Ends of the Earth
by onespoongirl
Summary: When Sinead's husband is ripped from her, she escapes from the Hutt Empire and goes on a quest to find him. Since being a runaway slave in the Outer Rim isn't exactly a walk in the park, she makes the Mandalorian an offer he can't refuse, and soon they travel across the galaxy, looking for her missing husband.
1. The Great Escape

**A/N: Hope y'all enjoy this, let me know what you think.**

Chapter 1 – The Great Escape

As the starship struggled through the atmosphere, the cargo hold shook like the world was coming apart at the seams. Sinead pressed herself against the wall, which was growing hotter as gravity tried to drag the ship back on the ground. She had squeezed herself between two crates and hidden by the shadows she was impossible to spot from the walkway.

Sound of blood rushing through her ears drowned out her labored breathing and loud bangs from the ship. She pressed a shaking hand to her mouth and tasted blood. Her other hand curled around the handle of the whip, thumb hovering above the button that would power it up, releasing a power she didn't know how to handle. The whip, the one that started it all. It was heavy in her hand. If anyone found her, they'd meet a quick end, if she didn't accidentally dismember herself first.

Eventually, the floor evened out, and Sinead allowed herself to shift, her burning leg muscles crying out in protest. A drop of sweat landed in her eye and she rubbed her forehead. She was drenched in sweat, whether from fear or the hot wall she didn't know.

As the ship got farther and farther away from the cursed planet, the fog of terror started to lift. She was free, or as free as one could be hiding in a cargo hold, stowing away on a starship bound for the unknown; they might as well take her into the heart of Hutt space.

The hiss when the door opened hit Sinead like an icepick at the back of her neck.

Bothans. Two of them made their way down the walkway, growling deep in their throats as they went, their paws almost silent on the metal floor.

Sinead shifted ever so slightly, breath caught in her throat, ready to pounce.

One of the Bothans stopped in front of her hiding place. She saw its long face through cracks between the crates, long canines curling up over its upper lip.

A clawed hand curled around the crate, pulling it back.

Sinead forced her eyes open. Her finger found the button and-

A loud growl and the Bothan let go of the crate and pushed it back in place. Sinead watched with wide eyes as they went further down the walkway and helped the other carry a much larger crate out of the room.

The door closed behind them, and Sinead let out a sigh of relief. The cargo hold felt cold suddenly, and empty, the only light came from ancient fixtures in the ceiling that flickered every time the ship shook.

She made it. She was going to make it. Once the ship docked, wherever that would be, she would sneak off and find another, get as far away from the Hutts as possible.

She'd find Kyen.

... ... ... ... ...

_Four months later_

Gineesh was nestled between two glaciers, growing from the cracks like stubborn weeds too deep-rooted to ever be pulled out completely. If the dormant volcano under the biggest glacier ever woke and flooded the area with molten lava, the city would find a way to break through the volcanic rocks before it even had time to cool off.

Two years ago, a surveyor from the mining guild found spice deep down under the ice and rocks, and what used to be a small port whose only claim to fame was that it was a stop on the way to Mon Calamari, bloomed into an entire mining operation.

Sinead had found a job in the big shipyard carved out of the ice, doing maintenance on the enormous freighters that came every day to pick up spice. Her father had taught her just enough not to get herself killed in an industrial accident, but mostly she fetched tools and ran messages for the more seasoned mechanics.

Working around the big ships made her feel closer to her parents than she had in a long time. They'd owned a freighter, running cargo for whoever wanted to pay for it, and Sinead had grown up among the stars.

She was jostled when she left the shipyard by big burly men coming in for their shift, their clothes covered in crusty oil and mud. The ever-present snow lined the road, turned grey from pollution. The road itself was a mess of dirt and sludge that seeped into her cheap boots as she walked.

A Twi'lek female waited for her just outside the shipyard; Ludah was young and pretty, her blue skin vibrant in the grey surroundings. She smiled when she saw Sinead.

"Jesha! I was about to leave without you."

Sinead shuffled closer to Ludah so they wouldn't be separated in the steady stream of people leaving and coming into to work. The sun was nearly below the horizon, but work never stopped a place like this.

"I had to finish up before I could leave. You know how it is."

Ludah squeezed past an overturned hovercart someone had left in the middle of the road. "I told you, you could work with me at the cantina. You'd get to sling ardees instead of oil for a change."

Sinead huddled further into her cloak. The glaciers sheltered them from the big snowstorms that ravaged Toola, but that didn't mean it wasn't colder than a wampa's balls.

"I've tried the whole server thing, and it turns out I'm no good at it."

"Because helping drunk assholes get even drunker is so hard."

"You're really selling this cantina job, you know that?"

Sinead knew she shouldn't talk to anyone more than necessary. She definitely shouldn't befriend the neighbor for fun walks through the slum, but she did anyway. She was a social creature, and the last months had been hell in more ways than one, although a different form of hell than the one she escaped from.

"Your loss."

Ludah leaned closer to Sinead with a conspiratorial glint in her eyes and said, "Lon stopped by after my shift ended."

Sinead blew out a deep sigh. "You know I don't want to hear about this."

"But he told me he's leaving tomorrow. We're gonna meet later, down by the mine."

"Ludah ..." Sinead said, looking around to see if anyone overheard them.

"I'm serious! I might never get to see him again when he joins the resis-"

Sinead's heart shuttered in her chest. "Shut. Up." Her eyes roved around them, hands balling into fists in her pockets. Everyone looked too preoccupied with themselves to notice them, but it only took one before the Empire descended on the planet like vultures. "Think before you speak, will you?"

"Sorry," Ludah said, not sounding particularly sorry. "I'm just so tired of being stuck on this frozen pile of bantha shit." She looked at the ground like the planet itself could hear her insult. "I'm tired of drunk _astash_ grabbing my lekku and following me home. I don't want to end up like my parents."

"Keep talking like that, and you'll end up in a prison camp, which I guess technically counts as getting off-world," Sinead said.

Ludah sniffed and crossed her arms. "I hate this stupid place." Another nasty look at the ground. "I'm sweating under my lekku and the rest of my body is frozen solid. How does that even happen?"

Sinead let Ludah rant the rest of the way to their lodgings, at least it was better than her talking about the Resistance. News of the Resistance's victories had reached all the way out to the frozen planet, and tension was building in the slums that, if not taken care of, might explode into a revolt.

It wasn't that Sinead didn't understand where Ludah was coming from; she knew all too well the stifling feeling that came from staying in one place too long, kept in place by literal or metaphorical chains. That didn't mean she was going to risk the Empire finding her just because Ludah had cabin fever.

They rounded the last corner and their lodgings were at the end of the road. Ludah's house was larger and sturdier than many of the surrounding shacks. Warm light spilled out from the windows. In contrast, Sinead's one-room hovel looked like it shouldn't even be standing up.

Something made Sinead stop in her tracks; a chill that had nothing to do with the cold went through her body.

"Jesha? Are you all right?" Ludah looked at Sinead with furrowed brows. They stood in the middle of the road. "You look at bit pale."

A shadow moved behind the lone window of the hut, and Sinead took a step back.

"You know, I forgot something at the shipyard. I'll just see you tomorrow, yeah?"

She didn't wait for Ludah to answer but turned around and hurried back the way she came. There were fewer people on the street, the few streetlamps to be found in the slum still in working order was alight, making everyone who passed underneath look sick in the yellow light.

She reminded herself not to run as she hurried back towards the shipyard. Someone walking fast might just be late for work, but someone running would attract too much attention. She looked around as subtly as she could, trying to see whatever it was that gave her that feeling like it was the world's end.

The smell of fire, oil, and metal hung in the air as she entered the shipyard, the sounds of heavy machinery just as loud as when she left, echoing in the big open space. A Wookiee passed her carrying a rotor across his shoulders, almost as tall as he was.

Only one freighter was docked, which meant the shipyard was emptier than usual. Sinead hurried into a dark corner and entered a maze of pallets filled with spare parts for the ships. Stopping in front of the wall, she removed a small panel. The whip was still there, the kyber crystals fused into the metal glinting in the low light.

Sinead didn't give herself time to be relieved. She returned the whip and replaced the panel, making the wall look untouched.

She left the shipyard by a rarely used side entrance and hurried down the street. Another breed of people appeared after the sun went down; beggars and homeless people crowded around burning drums to find whatever warmth they could.

A hovercart filled with miners were going down the street, and as it passed her, she stole down the nearest alley. The darkness swallowed her up.

Filth and frozen mud covered every surface, and Sinead nearly tripped over a garbage can, spilling its greasy content on the ground. Only slivers of light came through the dirty windows turned towards the alley.

A Weequay sat slumped against the wall, and at first glance Sinead though he was dead. As she hurried past, he looked up and his hoarse laughter followed her, echoing through the alley.

If she could find a ship that departed tonight, maybe she could stow away on it, buy herself some more time. Then when the coast was clear, she'd return for the whip and-

Pain exploded across her face as she turned a corner. The world tilted, and she landed on her side, hard, holding her face like it was about to split in two. There was blood in her mouth.

A Trandoshan stood before her, his eyes glowing in the twilight.

"There you are," he said, the words low and rough. "Been looking all over the galaxy for you." While she lay dazed on the ground, he bent down and snatched the blaster hidden behind her cloak. "That thing is much too dangerous for a girl like you."

Sinead forced her hands to stop trembling. Snow and mud had worked its way through the many layers of her clothes. He'd taken her blaster, but she still had a vibroblade tucked into her boot.

"Y-you have the wrong person," she said, edging away from the Trandoshan.

His maw opened in a grin. "I don't think so," he said, bending down and grabbing her by the wrists. "You're exactly the girl I'm looking fo-"

Sinead's foot connected with his stomach, sending him flying back and landing with a crash on top of an abandoned bag which split open and a black, foul-smelling content spilled out on the ground.

Sinead got to her feet and broke into a dead sprint, running blindly down the alley. His undulating hunting call echoed between the narrow walls, and ancient survival instinct kicked in gear, screaming at her to hide in the nearest hole she could find.

But he would find her in the end. That's what Trandoshians do.

The alley opened into the main thoroughfare that cut through the slum like a dirty scar.

Sinead burst into the road like a shot out of a cannon. She screamed at the top of her lungs, the kind of scream that made the silence ring even louder once it ended.

People stopped in their tracks and watched as she made a beeline to a group of Besalisks standing by a grill where three small creatures hung suspended over the flames.

"Help!" Sinead's voice cut through the cold air like a whip. "Help! He's trying to kidnap m-" her legs were yanked out from under her and mouth filled with dirty snow as she landed on the ground for the second time that day.

A crowd formed around her; several blasters pointed directly at the Trandoshan who came skulking through the snow, a grappling line trailing behind him.

"She's a wanted fugitive," he said, snarling as his beady eyes jumped from blaster to blaster. "Sinead Cade-" He held out a small bounty puck where an image of Sinead spun slowly, the blue light making the Trandoshan look pallid and sick- "is wanted for theft and murder.

A murmur went through the crowd and they fell away one after one until people just moved around them like they rocks in a stream.

The Trandoshan bent over her again, catching her wrist in his hand. "If you run again," he said, snarling as he drew in a breath, "I'll fly back to the Hutts with you strapped to the hull of my ship."

He fastened bindings around her wrist, and once he was sure they were secure, dragged her up by the arm. "Walk."

Sinead moved, head bent low in defeat while her eyes swirled around, looking for a way out. She still had the knife tucked away, but she had better make sure it stuck if she tried to use it.

Snow fell as they trudged towards the port located on the edge of Gineesh, covering the ground with fresh powder. Sinead's clothes started to freeze, and she had lost most feeling in her hands and feet. The Trandoshan kept a bruising grip on her upper arm, steering her towards certain death. His claws cut through her clothes like it was tissue paper, and Sinead felt warm blood trickle down her arm.

"If you send me back there," Sinead began, wincing as his grip got even tighter, "I'm as good as dead."

"And why is that my problem?" The Trandoshan yanked her to the side as a hovercart came zipping down the road, nearly hitting them.

"My blood will be on your hands."

The Trandoshan laughed, a raspy sound like scales slithering over stone. "You won't be the first, and you won't be the last."

Sinead swallowed down the growing panic and wet her lips. "I can pay you," she said, her voice lower and smoother than before, "I have something worth more than what they're paying you, I promise."

"Shut up." The Trandoshan pushed her forwards, and she landed on her knees in the snow. "We aren't all stupid enough to piss off both the Hutts and the Empire."

Sinead made a strangled sound as he grabbed her and hauled her to her feet. A weight was sitting on her chest. The Trandoshan dragged her along, her fingers found the knife, and hid it in the palm of her hand.

"You're making a mistake."

"I'll live. Too bad you won't."

A ship rose in front of them, its charred hull and dark windows making it look abandoned. The Trandoshan released her to press a button on his wrist vambrace.

Sinead flicked open the knife and lunged at the Trandoshan, burying the knife in his shoulder until only the hilt was visible.

The Trandoshan screamed, striking her on the side of the head with a fist like a rock covered in sandpaper. She used the momentum to spin around and run. Her heartbeat echoed in her ears, and with every labored breath, the cold air felt like knives in her lungs.

A roar echoed between the starships. She was about to chance a look behind when pain exploded in her shoulder and threw her to the ground. A smell of burnt flesh filled the air.

Rough hands grabbed her hair and pulled her head out of the mud. The Trandoshan pressed his disgusting mouth to her ear.

"You _really_ shouldn't have done that."

And everything went black.

... ... ... ... ...

Sinead came to, lying on her back in a small room. The first thing her brain registered was how cold it was. Her clothes were soaked in mud, melted snow, and blood, and the air was cold enough to crystallize in front of her face.

When she opened her eyes, she thought she had gone blind. Eventually, her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Slivers of light made it under the door to the cell. Because it was a cell, that was for certain. She was lying on a small cot, and the only other furniture in the room was a metal bucket pushed into the corner, which Sinead had no intention of touching no matter how long she was stuck in there.

The dull pain emanating from her shoulder turned into a fiery agony when she tried to move. She covered her mouth with a filthy hand to stifle her cry. That only made it worse as her wrists were still bound together and every time she moved her arm, a new stab of pain tore through her shoulder.

She couldn't just stay there. She had to get up, find a way out of this.

Gritting her teeth, Sinead counted to three and hoisted herself into a sitting position, nearly sliding off the cot. Pain exploded behind her eyes. Pitching forward, she emptied her stomach on the floor. When she gingerly pressed a hand to the back of her neck, she discovered that her hair was stiff with blood.

Sinead breathed deeply against the wave of powerlessness that hit her. As long as she didn't panic, she'd find a way out. She had to.

Getting up took more tries than she cared to think about. She stepped around the sick on the floor and examined the door, a thick slab of steel that a thermal detonator wouldn't be able to break through. The rest of the cell was as if poured straight into a mold, there wasn't a crack or gap in the cold wall.

A low, constant hum made it clear that she was on a starship, and it was heading nowhere good. A strangled sob escaped her lips as her fingers dug into her arm. Her body felt light as if it'd been hollowed out while she slept or expelled with the vomit.

She didn't know how long she stood there. The room shuddered as the ship hit the ground. It felt like someone had filled her ears with cotton.

The door hissed open and the Trandoshan appeared, his beady eyes trained on her. There was a dark stain on his shoulder, a bacta patch peeking out under his jacket. Grabbing Sinead's bound wrists, he pulled her towards the door.

An involuntary, guttural scream tore from her mouth and she dug in her heels as he dragged her down a narrow walkway. The ramp was down, sunlight streaming through the opening. As the Trandoshan shoved her through, Sinead closed her eyes against the harsh sun.

The sight that met her when she opened her eyes made her want to close them again: Slezza the Hutt sat fat and glistening in the shade of a canopy held by four slaves; Beside him, Jusgra stood just as pale and insipid as she remembered him. A group of palace guards surrounded them.

On the other side of the landing platform, an army of white shone brightly in the sun. An Imperial officer dressed in grey was waiting in front of a squadron of stormtroopers.

She'd hoped she never had to step foot on Sriluur again. The dry heat assaulted her when she stepped out of the ship, a sweat breaking out under her clothes.

Sinead hissed between her teeth as the Trandoshan grabbed her injured shoulder and dug in his claws, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of a reaction.

Jusgra's long face split into a smug smile. Humans came in all shapes and sizes, but Sinead had never seen anyone as disproportional as him.

"Ah, I see you've finally found your quarry. Took you long enough."

The Trandoshan growled. "Delivered in one piece, just like you said."

Jusgra grabbed Sinead by the chin and lifted her face into the sunlight. "Not without damaging the merchandise, I see."

Sinead's vision flashed and she spat directly into Jusgra's face.

He hit her across the face with enough force to make her legs give out, and she slipped out of the Trandoshan's grip, landing on the dusty ground.

Slezza laughed and said something in Huttese, but Sinead's ears were ringing too loud to hear.

She pushed herself to her feet. There was no way in hell she'd meet her fate lying helpless on the ground.

"If you're all quite done," the officer said, brushing a speck of dust off his grey coat. "I'd like to interrogate the prisoner."

The Trandoshan grabbed Sinead and pulled her close. "Not before I get paid."

Jusgra looked back at Slezza, who nodded his great head, and then Jusgra procured a pouch from a hidden pocket. The credits clinked when the Trandoshan caught it.

"You'll see it's all there," Jusgra said in a bored tone, examining his shirtsleeve.

"I just check if it's all the same to you," the Trandoshan said, turning the pouch upside down and counting the credits that fell in his palm. When he was satisfied, he gave Sinead a hard push towards the others.

"Pleasure doing business with you."

The starship took off, leaving her to die. Eventually.

Sinead breathed heavily through her nose, trying not to scream.

The officer stepped forward, flanked by two Stormtroopers who grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, making her clench her jaw in pain.

Slezza's booming voice rang out with a command.

"I do believe-" Jusgra stepped forward with his own guards behind him- "that seeing as she is property of the great Slezza the Hutt, and he deigned in all his magnificent glory to pay the bounty, she rightly belongs with us."

A change went through the guards and stormtroopers alike, tension boiling just below the surface. The stormtrooper to her right shifted his grip on his blaster rifle.

The officer patted his forehead with a handkerchief, not used to the oppressive heat of Sriluur. "She stole a valuable artifact belonging to the Empire, and I am tasked with getting it back. Since an alternate payment was found, the weapon still belongs to us."

"And we will relay the information on its whereabouts to you as soon as we've extracted it, I guarantee."

"That wasn't part of the deal-"

Slezza let out a gurgling roar, and the officer whirled around to face him. A hush went through the stormtroopers, and there was a low clicking sound of blasters being readied.

If they ended up opening fire on each other, maybe Sinead's death would be worth it.

Jusgra listened to Slezza with a passive face before smiling coldly at the officer. "Slezza the Hutt permits you to extract the information as you see fit, providing that she'll be delivered back alive, as the glorious Slezza wishes to oversee her punishment personally."

The officer gave a curt nod. "I can't see why that will be a problem." He adjusted a button on his coat and looked for the first time directly at Sinead.

"I don't suppose you'll tell us where you hid the weapon and get it all over with?"

_"D'emperiolo nok," _Sinead spat, looking directly into his runny eyes.

"This one has always been … spirited. More trouble than she's worth, really," Jusgra said.

"Yes, well, the Empire has ways of making people talk," the officer turned toward Slezza and gave a curt bow. "The Empire thanks you for your cooperation and looks forward to a long and profitable partnership."

As the stormtroopers led her away, Sinead looked up at the small building roof connected to the landing platform. There, in the heat haze, a shadow crouched behind a water tank.

Something glinted in the sunlight.

A grenade landed between the Imperial and the Hutt, and all hell broke loose.


	2. The Deal

**A/N: Happy holidays, everyone! Figured I would post this chapter before slipping into a well-deserved food coma.**

Chapter 2 – The Deal

_Five years later_

"There we were, cruising over Utapau, waiting for orders from those kriffin' bastards. The boys were gettin' restless, but I say to them, I say, you lads have been beggin' me for a break for months, and now you turn tetchy for a little downtime? I told 'em just kick back 'n relax, n' rake in the creds while the client figured out what to do 'bout us."

Sinead rested her elbows on the bar top, watching the Zabrak slam back the remainder of her mug, slamming it on the table. "And did you?"

"Kiff no. Those_ rhukis _tried to stiff us until we caught 'em, that is. They went on sayin' that on account of 'em not needing us after all, they shouldn't 'ave to pay us."

"Can't imagine that went over well with the boys."

The Zabrak barked out a laugh and slammed her fist on the bar between them hard enough to make the crockery rattle. "The lads don't like it much when clients don't keep their promises. As I see it, we was just getting some justice."

"Balance in the galaxy, and all that," Sinead said, filling up the Zabrak's mug with a frothy green concoction.

"Knew you'd get it." The Zabrak grinned, flashing a row of yellowing teeth filed to a point.

It was late at night, or as late as it could be on a space station that used artificial light all hours of the day. The star it orbited hung almost dead in the vacuum, a white dwarf, gone before the first sentients even started dreaming about space travel. Its cold light did nothing to warm up the planets left circling it.

Sinead had been on the space station for almost a month. Not long after gaining her freedom, she'd discovered that while convictions were all well and good, it wouldn't keep her from starving, and she'd found herself working in one of the two cantinas aboard the station. This one was less frequented, which suited Sinead just fine. Sometimes, when a big starship docked, the place would flood with spacers, but curiously they rarely came back.

"What's next for you and your boys?"

"Eh, some rich fella from the Core wants us to lug his cargo halfway 'cross the galaxy. All perfectly legal, of course."

"Of course. I'm sure all your other stories were perfectly legal too, right?"

"That's right." The Zabrak tapped her nose. "You're a smart one."

Sinead winked at the captain, before cleaning up the bar and discarding the empty bowls in the kitchen.

When she came back, the Zabrak got up and tossed a couple of credits on the table. "Thanks for listening to an old spacer's stories," she said. "Really warms a girl's hearts."

"My pleasure. You're quite the storyteller, you know that?"

The Zabrak barked out a laugh and reached over to slap Sinead on the shoulder. "Always knew I picked the wrong line of work." She grabbed the rifle that leaned against the bar. "See ya around, kid."

The Zabrak left, her long coat swinging behind her, and Sinead was left to her own devices. Two Niktos were the only patrons left in the bar and they sat together at a small table, heads bent low over their meals, and only muttering a few words between bites.

The station was originally a scientific vessel, orbiting the very star it was surveying. Sometimes before the fall of the Empire, the scientists left and not soon after enterprising spacers moved in, turning the station into a decent halfway point between nowhere and nothing.

Once Sinead grew adequately bored staring into thin air, she grabbed a broom from a cupboard and started sweeping. The maintenance droid was down something that happened surprisingly often in a place frequented by mechanics and pilots.

Five years she'd been free. Five years and every clue, every lead on Kyen fizzed out before she had the chance to grab it. The last one in a long line of disappointments ended with her nearly getting caught by a band of privateers, and now it hovered just out of reach.

She wondered if she had made a mistake breaking away from the rebels. Their attack on the Imps saved her life, but fear of retaliation made her split as fast as she could, although a few months later, that wasn't a concern anymore; the Empire shattered, and whatever was left was too preoccupied picking up the pieces. That left the Hutts, but as far as she knew, they thought she was dead, and she wanted to keep it that way. Now she just hovered in place, waiting for a new opportunity to-

The door swished open, and a cold blast of air hit her. She turned around to face the new patron.

His armor glinted in the harsh light.

Bounty hunter.

Mandalorian.

Her body reacted without input from her brain. She swung the broom at his head.

The Mandalorian ducked, and the broom sailed over his head; as it came around again, he grabbed it and wrenched it out of Sinead's hands, and it clattered on the ground.

The Niktos jumped up so quickly that their chairs fell backward, blasters pointed at the Mandalorian, with his own blaster trained at them.

Reason clawed its way through the fog of fear. "Are you a bounty hunter?" Her voice sounded loud in the tense room.

The Mandalorian cocked his head to the side and looked from Sinead to the Niktos. "Not right now." His voice was hoarse and sounded exhausted, but that could just be the voice modulator.

Sinead took a step back and sent a look over her shoulder at the Niktos, begging them to stand down. They shared a look, yellow teeth bared but lowered their blasters slowly.

She looked back at the Mandalorian, his blaster aimed directly at her. "I'm sorry about that," she said, giving him a weak smile. "We've had some problems with bounty hunters."

The Mandalorian kept staring at her, or rather, she assumed he kept staring at her, as his helmet gave absolutely no indication. Eventually, he lowered his blaster, but kept it at hand, presumably in case she started swinging the broom again.

He looked like he was about to leave when the bundle tucked safely into the crook of his arm started moving, and a small green hand appeared from between two folds.

Sinead watched in wonder as some fabric was pushed to the side, and two big, dark eyes looked out at the world.

The Mandalorian sighed and finally returned his blaster to its holster. "You got any food?"

Sinead tore her eyes away from the little creature. "Uh, yes. There's yvum soup on the boiler."

"One bowl then." He sat down at the table nearest the door, keeping his back against the wall where he could see the entire room.

The Niktos sat back down, but their food remained untouched as they looked warily at the Mandalorian, whispering among themselves.

Sparing one last look at the little creature, Sinead went into the tiny kitchen attached to the cantina and filled a bowl with yvum soup, a gelatinous substance made from boiling the hell out of whatever meat was available. Thick and brown, it looked like mud and smelled like it too, but the few people brave enough to frequent the cantina weren't the kind to complain.

When Sinead returned to the Mandalorian, he had removed the little creature from its cocoon and placed it on his lap so its little green head could see over the table.

Sinead left the bowl in the middle of the table, and the Mandalorian pulled it toward him. It didn't take long for the child to start slurping down soup.

"Thank you," the Mandalorian grunted and tossed a couple of credits on the table.

That surprised her a bit as most cantina patrons didn't seem to know basic manners if it hit them with a broom.

Sinead was putting the credits away in a strongbox beneath the counter when she heard the kid coo softly. Looking over the rim of the counter, she saw it sit up in the Mandalorian's lap. It looked like nothing she'd ever seen before, so small and soft in the Mandalorian's arms. Its floppy ears lifted curiously whenever the old station made a sound.

Grabbing the broom from the floor, Sinead started sweeping again as an excuse to get a better look at the odd pair. The little one's eyes followed her movements around the room as it slurped the remaining soup. It looked young and old at the same time; its head was covered in fine white hair.

The Niktos left, staring at the Mandalorian as they walked out, and he looked right back, his body shifting slightly, ready to spring into action.

When it became clear that Sinead couldn't continue sweeping a clean floor, she moved to the counter and grabbed the lockbox to count out the credits for her shift.

The kid slowed down eating and was looking around the room with curious eyes. Sinead burned to ask what species it was, but it was clear that its guardian wasn't in a talkative mood.

He said he wasn't a bounty hunter _right now_. Could he become one again for the right price? She'd met a Mandalorian once, a long time ago, and it was clear they were capable warriors. Plus, she had an ace up her sleeve.

Besides, she was curious about the little green guy.

Sinead's shift ended just as the Mandalorian was about to leave. She watched as he swaddled the child and left the cantina, moving surprisingly quiet for a guy in heavy armor. She waited until he was out of sight before hurrying after him, keeping close to the wall.

The space station was as dead as it was going to get with only a few ships docked. The Niktos were sitting around what looked like an unholy fusion between a Y-wing and a B-73. Sinead's steps sounded loud in the relative quiet.

The Mandalorian disappeared through the door leading to the docking bay.

She slipped through the door and almost collided with the Mandalorian, who stood tall and intimidating, the lighting behind him making him look like a shadow.

"Why are you following me?"

It took Sinead a second to find her voice. "You said you were a bounty hunter, right?"

His voice modulator rustled when he sighed. "I'm not after anyone in the station if that's what you're worried about."

"I'm not," Sinead said. "I want to hire you."

"What?"

"I want to hire you."

The Mandalorian paused, then shook his head and started walking. "Not interested."

Sinead hurried to keep up with him. "I can pay you."

"I'm not with the Guild."

"Wonderful, I'm not asking the Guild, I'm asking you."

"And my answer is no. Stop following me."

They were close to what Sinead assumed was the Mandalorian's ship. She didn't recognize the model, but it looked old. It had definitely seen better days.

Sinead bit her lower lip and jumped in front of the Mandalorian, forcing him to stop.

"Move." The command came out harsh and uncompromising.

She moved, and the Mandalorian passed her, his cloak fluttering behind him. She watched as he neared the ship, and she rubbed her jaw as thoughts fell over themselves to get to the forefront of her mind.

She took a chance.

"Does the Nau'orar mean anything to you?"

He stopped in his tracks, his shoulders tensing as the seconds passed by.

"How do you know about that?" He turned to look at her.

"Maybe we should take this somewhere more private."

... ... ... ... ...

Since there were no proper seats in the ship, except for the bunk, which seemed like a bad choice for prefect strangers, Sinead was left standing awkwardly near the bay door.

The Mandalorian stood by a small cot that looked so out of place on the ship. He'd put the child down to sleep, but the little guy evidently knew something was happening because he stayed wide awake, looking from one human to the other.

"Speak."

Sinead resisted running a hand through her hair. The Mandalorian stood unmoving, watching her.

"I need you to find a man who-"

"How do you know about the Nau'orar?"

Straight to the point, then.

Sinead paused and gave the Mandalorian a searching look. Maybe this was a huge mistake.

With a sigh, she produced a small holoprojector from her pocket and threw it to him.

He caught it and turned it on. A blurred hologram of the whip appeared above it, turning slowly on its axis. Even with a cheap holoprojector, the whip looked beautiful.

"I acquired it some years ago-"

"How did you get it?"

Sinead's jaw clenched, and it took everything in her not to snap at him. Still, she figured that the truth might speed things along. The Mandalorians and the Empire were hardly friends.

"I stole it from the Empire five years ago. The details aren't important, what is, is that I have it in my possession, in a safe place. It's yours if you help me find someone."

"It belongs to the Mandalorians."

Sinead shrugged. "Look, I agree with you, and I would've given it back to its rightful owners if it didn't happen to be an excellent bargaining chip." She gave him a small smile, hoping that he wasn't about to throw her off the ship.

On the bunk, the kid cooed softly, and Sinead smiled at it.

The Mandalorian looked at the hologram for a long moment, his hands clenching and releasing. At last, he sighed deeply. "Who do I need to find?"

"His name is Kyen Beck. He was a slave on Sriluur until they moved him off-world, possibly to a facility on Siskeen."

The Mandalorian cocked his head to the side. "It's a long way to go for a maybe."

Sinead ignored him. "This isn't a Guild job. I have no puck or fob, or whatever it is they use, but if you do this, the whip is yours."

The Mandalorian still didn't seem convinced. "He's a runaway slave?"

For one dizzying moment, Sinead's chest felt too tight to breathe.

"He's my husband."

The Mandalorian stiffened and looked away, down at the child who watched their conversation in fascinated silence. He sighed deeply. "I'll look for him, but I can't make any promises."

Sinead let out a deep breath, her knees going weak with relief. Finally, she was doing _something._

"Where was his last known location?"

Sinead wet her lips and swallowed. "I talked with someone who escaped from Sriluur two years ago, told me that he'd been shipped to Siskeen with some other slaves, but she doesn't know exactly what happened."

"And you trust this information?"

"More or less."

The Mandalorian fell silent for some time. "You said she escaped two years ago. Why didn't you just go by yourself?"

"I'm not exactly welcome in Hutt space at the moment." She smiled bitterly. "I tried other bounty hunters, but they didn't really ... work out."¨

He was going to ask her if she used to be a slave. Would he take her back to the Hutt's instead, taking the easy payment? While her bounty was void, she was sure whoever inherited Slezza's throne would be glad to see her.

The Mandalorian, to Sinead's surprise, nodded curtly and moved to the side, effectively ending the conversation. Sinead wasn't done, though.

"When do we leave?"

The Mandalorian froze. "When do we-"

"We leave? I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not. I work alone." He crossed his arms across his chest.

"Not this time. He's my husband."

"You can't-"

"I can read star charts, I can fly, I know how to fight-"

"A broom doesn't count."

Sinead huffed and narrowed her eyes. "There isn't much to go on. I know my husband, I know what he'd do, I know how he looks. Sooner or later, you're going to need me."

"No. Deal's off."

Shaking her head, Sinead took a deep breath and grit her teeth. "Fine." She started toward the door. "You're making a mistake. The Nau'orar does belong with the Mandalorians, but I can't force you."

The kid made a whining sound as the door opened, and its big floppy ears drooped down.

She had made it down the ramp when the Mandalorian appeared in the doorway.

"The ship leaves at 0700." He sounded unsure even as he said it.

Warmth radiated through Sinead's body and she felt weak in the knees. "0700. I'll be there."

The Mandalorian nodded curtly and started to raise the ramp.

"My name is Sinead, by the way," she yelled, just as the ramp closed.

Finally, after 5 years, she was doing_ something_. She had a good feeling about this.


	3. The First Step

**A/N: Happy season ending, everyone! That was something, huh?**

**This chapter is super short, and I probably should've just tacked it on the last one. I promise the next chapter is a long one.**

Chapter 3 – The First Step

The next morning Din stood outside the ship, feeling around under one of the chrome panels that usually covered the landing gear. When they'd landed on the space station, he had noticed how the landing gear stuck and it had made for a rough landing, wearing down on the ship's dampers. Eventually, he found a small protrusion which used to be a bolt but had now been covered completely by rust and dirt; it was a wonder the landing gear even worked.

There was no time or money to fix it, though. He hadn't even wanted to dock at the station, but the kid was hungry and their food stores were running dangerously low.

The child still slept inside the ship. After Sinead had left, it had taken ages to get him to calm down enough to fall asleep, and since it had been a rough couple of days, he really needed it.

A small mouse droid skirted around the ship, racing from cover to cover. Scorch marks on the floor showed where Din had taken a potshot at it when they first landed, and it seemed like it'd gotten the message. Din's hand twitched towards the blaster strapped to his side.

It was almost the time when he told Sinead to meet them, and she hadn't shown yet. He had half a mind to just leave and find her husband by himself or just forget about her altogether. The last thing he needed was more heat, especially not when he had to think about the kid.

The only reason he'd said yes was the Nau'orar. He'd heard the stories of a powerful weapon made thousands of years ago by legendary warriors, but it had been a fairy tale, something he and the other foundlings told each other when they couldn't sleep. And somehow it had ended up in the hands of a runaway slave.

It was clear that she used to be a slave, even if she was reluctant to say so herself. He recognized the hunted look in her eyes, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

With a hiss and a whirr, the ramp descended and Din was met by the sight of the kid looking forlornly at him from the top. He had managed to crawl down from the cot still wrapped in a blanket and drag it all the way across the floor.

"You should get some more sleep," Din said, scooping him up and placing him back in the cot. Din's voice still sounded stiff and unsure, but the kid seemed to like it when he spoke to him.

The kid babbled and yawned, showing a row of tiny teeth; one of his ears was creased like he'd slept on it. His dark eyes followed Din around as he made sure they had everything they needed for a couple of days in space.

When it became clear that the kid wasn't going back to sleep, Din mixed some dried bantha milk in a cup for him. He was coiling some spare wires in the cockpit when he spotted Sinead walking up to the ship, dressed for travel and carrying a duffel bag over her shoulder. She'd put her long dark hair in a tight braid.

The kid's big floppy ears lifted in curiosity when Din climbed down the ladder and opened the door

Sinead greeted him as she walked up the ramp, handing him a clinking pouch as she passed him."For fuel and rations," she said, and Din opened the pouch to find a small amount of credits. "I know it's not nearly enough but it's all I have."

Sinead inspected the ship, her dark eyes taking everything in.

"You take the bunk," Din said, nodding towards the lone bed in the corner.

Sinead fiddled with the strap on the bag. "And what about you, then?"

Din nodded towards a narrow door set into the side of the ship which lead to a small storage space he'd cleaned out to make room for a cot. If they were going to travel together, he needed some privacy.

When Sinead had thrown her duffle on the bunk, the kid toddled towards her while cooing gently, his small feet shuffling on the ground.

She smiled softly and crouched down to be more level with the kid, letting him grab her finger. "What's his name?"

Din followed her every move and took a deep breath, restraining himself from grabbing the kid. "I don't know," he said, tensing up in preparation for the inevitable questions.

He wasn't disappointed. Sinead looked up abruptly, shooting him an incredulous look. "What do you mean you don't know?" She looked back at the kid, who was trying to crawl onto her lap.

Din grunted as a way of answer, and Sinead pressed her lips together but she didn't press it further.

The kid made it up on Sinead's lap and was tugging on her hair with a stubby hand, laughing when he pulled a lock out of the braid. She stood up, holding the kid in her arms.

Din's arms jerked as he restrained himself from taking the kid or at least make sure she didn't drop him, and by her raised eyebrow it didn't go unnoticed.

"Whatever his name is," she said and gently pried her braid of out of the kid's hand, "he's sweet." The kid pouted when she flipped the braid over her shoulder.

Din watched them like a hawk as Sinead inspected the kid's hand. He cleared his throat. "We should go."

Sinead looked up at him, biting her lower lip. "Right."

Wordlessly, Din took the kid from her and turned towards the ladder to the cockpit, Sinead following behind. He placed the kid in his seat and strapped him in, hoping that it'd keep him from getting into trouble, although prior experience taught him that the kid could and would get into as much trouble as he could find.

Sinead strapped into the last unoccupied seat.

As the navicomputer made calculations for the fastest route to Siskeen, Din flicked a row of switches and the ship came alive under his hands. A low rumble grew into a roar as the turbines turned on, stuttering for a few seconds before catching on.

The ship lifted and there was a grating noise beneath the roar of the engine as the landing gear retracted into the bowls of the ship. Soon, the station was a small blip behind them as they turned towards Siskeen, the navicomputer beeping as it finished its calculations.

"It says it'll take 26 hours," Sinead said, leaning forward to get a better look at the screen. "If we go through Dalchon, we can shave 6 hours off."

Din switched on the stabilizer and readied the ship for the first jump, looking back over his shoulder to make sure the kid was still strapped in. "The Dalchon sector's crawling with pirates, it'll take longer to get through safely." He wondered where she learned how to navigate the galaxy as he doubted the Hutts were interested in teaching their slaves how to read star charts.

"26 hours it is then."

Sinead fell silent, and Din took a deep breath to concentrate on the task at hand. The route to Siskeen was far from straightforward and the added pirate presence in the nearby sector only complicated things.

The kid cooed and Din looked over to see Sinead rubbing his ear between her fingers, making faces at him while he watched in awe.

"I haven't seen anything like him before," she said as the kid tried getting out of his chair presumably to make another grab at her hair. "What- uh, what species is he?"

"Don't know." He watched the kid for any sign of discomfort, but he looked happy with the attention.

Sinead sent him a look before returning her attention to the kid, clearly not believing him. "Where'd you find him?"

Under his helmet, his eyes narrowed and he didn't answer.

Sinead huffed and her gaze flicked up. "Right. No questions about the kid."

They sat in tense silence, watching stars grow into streaks as the ship made the jump into hyperspace. Din's stomach flipped as the gravity generator struggled to keep up.

Eventually, Sinead left and as the door closed behind her, some of the tension in Din's shoulders ebbed out. He looked over his shoulder at the kid, who was watching the stars streak by in solemn silence.

"If we're lucky, she'll be gone soon enough."

The kid cooed happily in response.

If they were lucky. If. They'd known nothing but bad luck in the last couple of weeks, so he didn't know why he expected it to change now.

But one could hope.

… … … … …

As they left the space station behind, a tingling sensation started at the base of Sinead's spine, traveling up her body until it felt her entire self was fluttering, making her unable to sit still but incapable of concentrating on anything.

She'd left the Mandalorian in the cockpit as his surly silence made her eyes twitch. Nobody said they needed to be friends but outright refusing to answer even the simplest questions were a bit much, and Sinead had so many questions, swirling around her head, falling over each other in their haste to be spoken; the most pressing was why the hell a bounty hunter was traversing the galaxy with a little child?

The ship, while far from the worst one she'd ever found herself in, was old and clearly not made to be lived in; the refresher and the bunk looked hastily tacked on. Sinead trailed a hand over the wall, pulling out the occasional compartment to check the contents, keeping an eye on the ladder in case the Mandalorian was about to come looking for her. There were weapons, of course, blasters, rifles, what looked like an old-fashioned flail, holoprojectors, and tools. She didn't find a single personal item that might tell her anything about her quiet companion.

Pushing her bag out of the way, Sinead sat down on the bunk, the thin material only giving a fraction under her weight.

It felt like her ribs were tightening around her lungs. The near euphoric feeling of being out in space where she belonged was quickly replaced by doubt which knotted her stomach and made it hard to breathe. She forced herself to relax, thinking back on her first night in Slezza's palace.

Dry and warm hands took her own with a soft yet unyielding grip, the kind that old women seem to have down to an art. A calloused thumb brushed over her knuckles.

_Just breathe._

_As long as you keep breathing, they haven't won._

Sinead had been kicking and screaming, throwing herself at whoever came close with a strength that left her muscles aching for weeks after. She remembered the jeers from guards and other slaves, felt pain as an electro-whip descended on her back again and again. And then, suddenly, the crowd parted and Chavime hobbled through, her back bent with age already back then, and she took Sinead's hands in her own and told her to _breathe_.

There were very few things she missed about Slezza's palace and Chavime was one of them.

A noise made Sinead jump, and her hand went the blaster at her side.

The Mandalorian climbed down the ladder, holding the kid in the crook of his arm.

The child babbled when he saw her and reached towards her, his green ears lifting in excitement. The Mandalorian shifted the kid to rest on his shoulder as he rummaged around the makeshift galley attached to the ship.

"You know, I can fly the ship if you want," Sinead said to the Mandalorian's turned back. Her dad had taught her to fly practically before she could walk, although she had gotten a bit rusty in the last couple of years.

The Mandalorian didn't turn. "That won't be necessary."

Sinead rolled her eyes, safe in the knowledge that he couldn't see her. "It's your ship, just know the offer still stands."

While the Mandalorian prepared food, Sinead entertained herself by making faces to the kid, who watched her raptly over Mando's shoulder.

After the kid had been fed, the Mandalorian turned towards her.

"Where's the Nau'orar now?"

Sinead shrugged. "Somewhere safe."

"Safe?"

Sinead looked at him with narrowed eyes. "How long have you been traveling with the kid?"

He froze. "What?"

"An answer for an answer, doesn't that seem fair to you?" She gave him a sardonic smile.

The Mandalorian rolled his shoulders and looked away sharply and predictably he didn't answer.

The kid finished eating, and they returned to the cockpit. Sinead leaned back and rested her head on the wall, the vibrations making it feel like her head was filled with bees.

His question was fair, although it hadn't exactly inspired trust.

She really hoped the weapon was safe.

… … … … …

**A/N: There you have it, folks.**

**I really struggled with Mando's POV, so I'm looking forward to hearing what you guys think.**


	4. The Ruins

**AN: Boom. I promised the next one would be longer.**

Chapter 4 – The Ruins

The Razor Crest descended on Siskeen and soared over the emerald jungle, scanners working to find a place they might be able to land in the sea of green.

Sinead felt it in her body when they entered Hutt space. Old and new fears mingled and turned into a hard knot in the pit of her stomach, making her body slump and turn in on itself. She had it on good authority that the Hutts thought she died with Slezza, but one could never be too sure when it came to remaining free.

Somewhere in the knot of fear was a small flicker of hope. She doubted Kyen was there because when had she ever been that lucky, but if she found just a tiny trace of him, it'd all be worth it.

She took a deep breath and tried to relax. The last time she'd tried going near Siskeen she'd almost been discovered by a passing ship bearing Hutt colors and sent back to the palace. This was the closest she'd been to Kyen in over five years.

The child cooed, and Sinead looked at him in his improvised seat. He reached out after her, and Sinead leaned across the gap to let him grab on to her finger. As she watched him examine a button on her sleeve, a little tension seeped out of her body. There was a glimpse of pink as he stuck his tiny tongue out in concentration, managing to wedge a stubby finger under the button.

Sinead pulled her arm back before he could tear it off. "You are a force of destruction," She told the kid solemnly, who giggled and reached for the button. Sinead dodged his hand and pulled on the brown robe he was wearing, a couple of sizes too big by the look of it. "How'd you feel if I started pulling off all the buttons on your clothes, hm?"

The child babbled.

"That's right, you're not wearing any buttons. Foiled again."

Mando cleared his throat, and Sinead straightened up. She'd almost forgotten him, quiet as he was.

"The scanners picked up a structure to the north." He turned the ship slightly, and soon it flew over a great lake, which was the only body of water they'd seen since descending on the planet; everything else was an impenetrable wall of green.

On the monitor, there was indeed a little blip in the middle of the jungle.

"Is it a settlement?" She leaned forward to get a better look.

Mando flicked a row of switches. "Mhm. Five klicks due west."

"You think it's the Hutts?"

"I don't know. Let's see."

The ship touched down in a clearing a good hour from the settlement, far enough away that they wouldn't be spotted coming. Metal groaned as shock absorbers struggled with keeping the ship in one piece.

It was clear the clearing had been made by sentients; it was a perfect circle carved out of the trees, and it didn't look like there had been anyone for some time.

As the ramp opened, a blast of hot and humid air hit Sinead, making sweat break out under her clothes. The air tasted thick and earthy, and an unknown animal screeched in the distance.

Sinead stretched as she reached the ground and looked up at the blue sky. A formation of birds made their way across, small dots in the distance. The forest teemed with life.

She already missed the coolness of space, the smell of metal and stardust. Here everything smelled old and rotten as if the ghosts of long-gone fruits still hung in the air.

As she came to terms with being back in a murky hell, the Mandalorian was busy trying to get the kid to stay in the ship, but every time the little green child would waddle after him, grunting in a decidedly offended way and trying to keep up his long strides.

"No," Mando said, grabbing the kid and placing him back in the ship. "It's too dangerous."

Sinead turned her head to hide her smile.

The kid wailed as the ramp started to rise and it halted for a second before becoming stuck with a grinding sound. His ears were flat against his head, face scrunched in a pout. Mando sighed and turned his helmeted face towards the sky.

"Why don't you just bring him along?" Sinead said after getting her facial muscles under control. "We're just checking out the place, right?"

The Mandalorian glanced at her before looking back at the kid, whose ears started to perk up again. He sighed deeply before pressing a button on his wrist, making the ramp go back down. The kid babbled excitedly as the Mando grabbed him and went back into the ship, coming out a few minutes later with the child in a sling strapped to his chest.

Sinead scratched her nose to once again hide the smile that threatened to break out on her face, but Mando wasn't fooled. He rolled his shoulders and grunted a "c'mon."

The ground outside the careful circle was covered in dense undergrowth that slowed them down as they made their way to the settlement. Vines hung from the trees in suffocating loops, and thick roots broke through the ground and formed treacherous holes that just waited for someone careless enough to step in it. Strange animal calls filled the air, and high above them, the green canopy rustled as small monkey-looking creatures watched the three of them struggle their way over a fallen tree, so old that it was completely covered in moss and ferns.

Sinead discarded her outer jacket, tying it around her waist and drawing a hand across her sweaty forehead. The humidity made it feel like she was breathing in soup, and her shirt clung to her back. She wondered if the Mandalorian was struggling in the heat, but if he did, he didn't show it. The kid seemed fine, his head swirling around to take everything in.

After a few paces, the ship disappeared, and everything was in a shade of green or brown. Sinead followed Mando, trusting that he knew the way through the overgrown hell. Once she found Kyen, settling down on a jungle planet was out of the question.

As Mando squeezed between two trees, a wet leaf swung back and smacked Sinead in the face. She broke it off with a snarl. "I hate this," She said through gritted teeth, squeezing past the trees that were slick with moisture. "Why did someone bother making a clearing if they didn't make a path as well?"

"Just walk."

Sinead scowled at the Mandalorian's back and bit back a retort that sounded whiny even to her. Her feet sank into the soft ground with every step, making the trudge even slower. She felt like she was back on Nal-Hutta, an experience she'd rather not think about.

She scoured her mind for anything to distract from the fact that they were slogging through a murky hellhole.

"You ship, it's Old Republic?" She asked after they edged around a black pool, the still water perfectly reflecting the tree crowns above them. She wondered what kind of monsters lurked beneath the surface. They had to be pretty terrible to live in a place like this.

"Save your energy for walking."

Sinead made a face. "It's either this or I start flinging curses left and right, and since there's a child present ..."

The Mandalorian glanced back at her, and Sinead could feel the heat of his gaze.

"It's too old to be New Republic and not enough of an eyesore to be Empire," Sinead said and ducked under a low-hanging vine.

They stopped as Mando made sure they were heading in the right direction. Sinead had all but given up getting an answer when he said so quietly that it was nearly swallowed by the jungle, "it's Mandalorian."

"Makes sense I didn't recognize it, I've never been. How is it?"

He didn't answer. Of course.

Sinead barrelled on. "I met a Mandalorian once. She was extra security back when the Meram sector was overrun with pirates. I heard they're mostly gone now, but you couldn't swing a dead tooka without hitting one back then. It didn't take long before word spread, and we were mostly left alone. She did not fuck around."

The Mandalorian made a sound that might have been an agreement.

"Expensive, though I guess not as expensive as you."

Mando cleared a rocky outcropping, and Sinead was surprised when he turned and offered his hand to help her over. The kid swung around and cooed happily when he saw her.

"How do you even know about the Nau'orar?" he asked once they were back on the spongy ground. The forest opened a bit, making it possible to walk side by side.

"I only know what I overheard, that it's an old Mandalorian weapon. Why, do you know more about it?"

The silence that met her could cut glass.

Sinead scratched a mosquito bite on the back of her neck. "You know, under any other circumstance, I would've returned it to Mandalore."

He glanced at her. "How generous of you."

"Don't give me that," She said, shooting him a look. "You'd do the same thing."

"I wouldn't wait five years."

Sinead's hand shot out and grabbed him by the arm, making them both stop in their tracks. He tensed up, staring at her until she let him go.

"You have no idea what I've been through the last five years," Sinead said hotly, her voice shaking despite her best efforts to keep it even. "Or before that. You have no right to judge me, _bounty hunter._" She stalked past him in the general direction of where they were headed. Her anger surprised even herself; heat flushed through her body that had nothing to do with the temperature.

The Mandalorian followed behind her, keeping some distance between them. The child cooed now and again, but a tense silence had fallen between the two adults.

Slowly, the terrain rose up in a gentle slope, the ground becoming drier and lose with each step, the trees thinned out, sunlight filtering through the leaves.

Sinead reached the edge first, out of breath and now wholly drenched in sweat. Below, the ground dropped away abruptly into a caldera that stretched almost a kilometer across, which was dotted with ancient ruins, grey pillars rising from the earth like jagged bones. The jungle grew between the pillars, trees and great big fronds rustled in the wind. A large structure stood in the middle, taller than the caldera's edge, a pyramid made of the same stone as the pillars. The top had caved in, and big cracks stretched across the surface. Sinead's breath caught in her throat. Looking at it hurt her eyes like trying to stare directly into the sun.

Mando came up beside her, his shoulders heaving, and Sinead was glad to see that she wasn't the only one winded from the trek. The kid chirped when he saw the caldera in all its glory.

Mando scanned the area below with a compact scope. "Doesn't look like anyone's home. I see scorch marks on the walls. Signs of fighting."

"Any bodies?"

"No, this looks old. There're some crates by the main building, doesn't look like it's been touched in a long time."

They were too far away to see anything with the naked eye, so Sinead just had to take his word for it.

"We should check it out."

Mando lowered the scope and seemed to weigh the options. He looked up at the sun, which had reached its apex and was slowly descending towards the horizon. "We stay out of sight. If anyone's there, do not engage, got it?"

"Got it."

Stairs cut into the stone led into the caldera, the steps worn smooth and slippery by centuries of feet, and Sinead had to grip hold of the slimy rope attached to the cliffside so she wouldn't careen over the edge.

As they descended into the caldera, the sounds of the jungle faded; ever since they stepped out of the ship, there had been the sounds of hundreds of critters moving through the undergrowth, of monkeys calling to each other, and birds swooping across the sky, but now they were replaced by a low and insistent hum that reverberated between the rocky walls.

"Do you-"

"I hear it. Stay alert."

They reached the bottom of the caldera, and the sound got louder, caught somewhere between the buzz of an angry swarm of bees and a distant bird screech. The high cliff walls acted as a funnel, trapping the wind and sending it into a wild spin with the giant pyramid at the center.

Sinead looked around, her brows furrowed. Save for the wind that bounced between the walls, there was no movement at all. No birds, no bugs, no ants crossing the ground in a straight line. As they descended into the caldera, they were cut off from the rest of the galaxy.

"What is that? I've never heard wind make a sound like that," Sinead said, her voice sounding weak.

"Just stay close." Mando pulled his blaster and held it at his side, his head going side to side as he scanned the ground.

The kid whimpered and sank further into the sling until only the tip of his ears were visible.

Sinead reached out and patted the kid gently on the head, his sparse hair tickling her hand. "I don't like it either."

The child cooed in response but stayed in the relative safety of the sling.

As they went further into the caldera, the buzzing died down, but the silence that emerged in its place was almost worse. They moved slowly, staying on a faint path that wove between trees but always in the direction of the pyramid. As they came closer, it became clear that it was a temple of sorts, abandoned a long time ago.

The pillars that looked so much like bones from the caldera's edge were much larger as they came closer. Strange shapes had been carved into the stone, most of it had been worn away by wind and the passing of time.

"You ever seen anything like this before?" Sinead said, moving closer to the Mandalorian. The blaster was heavy in her hand and she felt eyes on her from every direction.

"No."

The trees fell away abruptly, and they reached the foot of the temple, where charred debris and broken droids littered the ground.

"It must've happened some time ago," Sinead said, bending down to examine a security droid with a hole straight through its main circuits. "I wonder who attacked them."

Mando rooted through a small pile of debris, standing up holding a piece of blackened armor.

"New Republic," he said, showing Sinead the sigil imprinted on the plasteel before throwing it aside.

"Of course. I guess they raided this place after the Empire fell. I wonder when exactly."

Something caught Sinead's eyes and she weaved through the battlefield. Half hidden behind a fallen pillar, a cluster of cages stacked haphazardly was in the process of being reclaimed by the jungle; vines snaked through the bars like tentacles.

Sinead grabbed a ropy vine, but no matter how much she pulled, it wouldn't budge. Still, there was no mistaking it.

"I know these types of cages," she said, turning to the Mandalorian. "The Hutts use them to transport their captives."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." She glanced at the cages. "I'm sure."

This day was just lousy with rotten reminders of things best left in the past.

Mando looked up at the ruin towering above them, the sunlight reflecting on his helmet. "They're long gone by now."

Sinead looked up at the temple with unease. This close, it looked dark and malicious, a void in the greenery where sunlight didn't reach.

"There might be clues in there, leads to follow. We can't just go flying blindly through the galaxy, hoping to trip over Kyen on the way." She could feel his indecision as he looked down at the kid. "Look," she said, pressing a hand to her damp forehead, "you can stay out here while I search the place, okay? Won't take long."

She was halfway up the stairs when the Mandalorian came up beside her, the set of his shoulders betraying just how on edge he was. Wordlessly, they continued to the top.

... ... ... ... ...

Din didn't like this place. The further they went towards the temple, the surer he was that this was a bad idea. An underlying menace grew with each footstep, and the child seemingly felt the same way, as Din saw two dark eyes staring up at him, the little face etched in a frown.

"Is he okay?"

Din looked at Sinead, her hair plastered to her face and neck.

"The kid, I mean." She nodded towards the sling.

"I think so. He doesn't like this place."

"That makes two of us."

They reached the top of the stairs, and Din turned to look across the caldera. Up here, it almost seemed peaceful.

As Din and Sinead passed under the great stone arch, the temperature dropped in an instant, making Sinead's breath crystallize in front of her. She shuddered and pulled on her jacket.

"It shouldn't be this cold in here."

"No."

Din scanned the area, but his sensors didn't pick up any movement. They found themselves in an antechamber that led into a large atrium where the same strange symbols on the pillars were carved into the wall.

The smell of mildew and rot was overwhelming and thick moss grew on old and broken furniture. Their footsteps echoed between the stone walls.

Inside, the signs of battle were even more apparent. Plasteel cases and wooden tables had been used as improvised cover, their surfaces covered with scorch marks. The ceiling had caved in, littering the ground with debris. A lone droid slumped against an overturned table, its armor plate torn apart by blaster bolts.

The entrance was the only light source, only reaching a few meters into the ruin. Din attached a torch to the side of his helmet. The moving light made the shadows twist and turn.

A set of stairs led down into the bowls of the ruins. Din threw out an arm to stop Sinead in her tracks.

"We don't know what might be down there," he said, keeping his voice low. "Be careful."

Sinead pressed her lips together in a thin line and nodded once. Din lowered his arm and let her pass, following her deeper into the temple.

The air went even staler the further they went, the stairs winding down until they were deep in the ground. Din's breathing was loud in his ears.

At the bottom, another antechamber opened into a bigger hall, exactly like the one above. The difference here was it was clear that a great deal of people had lived there for quite some time; two long tables stood in the middle surrounded by chairs in various states of disarray. Half-empty bottles piled up on the tables or lay dusty and forgotten on the floor. At least one of them was broken, and the contents had long since evaporated. Containers filled with scrap metal lined the walls.

"Looks like they had to leave in a hurry," Sinead said, grabbing a bottle from a table and peering at the label. "They'd never leave Kowakian rum behind unless it was absolutely life or death." A small cloud of dust rose when she placed the bottle back on the table.

"C'mon," Din said and turned down one of the two solitary corridors that led away from the chamber. He walked slowly, watching for any movement in the gloom while keeping an eye on the kid, who silently watched him from his little cocoon.

They hadn't gone more than a few paces before Sinead drew in a sharp breath. Rows of cells stretched into the darkness, no bigger than the cockpit in the Razor Crest. It would take a thermal grenade to get through the thick walls, and if they did, the occupants would suffocate under a mountain of dirt and rubble.

"These are new," Din said, examining the bars that made up one side of the cells. Made of durasteel and outfitted with electronic locks, they looked wholly out of place in the damp dungeon.

"So the Hutts found an abandoned ruin and made it their own. Nobody ever said they weren't crafty." Sinead grabbed hold of the bars and tugged on it. "Impressive."

Din watched Sinead from the corner of his eyes, keeping some distance. Her jaw was set and her dark eyes seemed bright in the low light.

"Look for a convor carved into one of the walls," Sinead said before sensing his confusion and adding, "we agreed that if we ever got separated, we'd leave a sign for the other to find."

"And that sign is a convor?"

Sinead's smile didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah, well, neither one of us knows how to draw a Sarlacc."

Continuing down the corridor, they strained their eyes in the dim light to look for any sign of a convor.

Farther ahead, there was a steady drip of water and a new kind of dampness snuck in under his armor. This was a dismal place, even by prison standards. Being frozen in carbonite was preferable to this.

"What do you think this used to be? Before the Hutts took over."

"Probably a prison."

Sinead huffed. "I can see that. Who do you think it was meant to imprison?"

Din sighed. He just wanted to get this over with. "I don't know."

"You're quite the talker, you know that?"

They walked on in silence.

Suddenly, Sinead rushed forward, and Din raised his blaster, turning slightly to shield the child.

"Look!" She put her hand through the bars of the nearest cell, pointing to the far wall where an oval had been scratched into the wall. If he put his head to the side and squinted, it could charitably resemble a bird. "He's been here," she breathed, her eyes fixed on the convor. She pulled on the door, but it didn't budge.

Din realized with mounting horror that her eyes were filling with tears, and he looked away, unsure of what to say.

He left her alone, wandering farther down the corridor, wanting to give her some semblance of privacy. Besides, he had no idea how to comfort a crying woman; comforting the kid was hard enough.

Now and again, the cells were broken up by archways that led into small rooms, most of them caved in and the rest empty. Din looked in every room, but when the Hutts cleared out, they did so without leaving anything useful behind.

Up ahead, a noise cut through the darkness.

Din froze and turned to shield the child, his free hand going up to turn off the flashlight, leaving them in the pitch black.

Carefully, Din snuck along the wall, pressing a protective hand to the child, who hadn't made a sound since they entered the ruin. As he got closer, the noise turned into a low whirr.

Soft light shone through an archway, painting the opposite wall golden. Din leaned against the stone wall out of sight, and he heard whatever making the sound moving around in the alcove.

Blaster at the ready, he stepped into the light and pulled the trigger.

A droid collapsed in a cloud of dust, a smoking hole in its head.

Further down the corridor, Sinead swore, and Din heard her splash through shallow puddles as she ran toward him.

"What the fuck happened?" She looked at the droid. "Did you shoot that? We could've used it!"

Din's jaw tightened, but he remained silent. He didn't want to spend a moment more than he had to trapped in here.

Sinead blew out a long breath as she looked around the room. "They must've forgotten this one." Her eyes were red, but otherwise, she looked composed. "A shame we can't take it with us." She glared at him.

"I don't want any droids on the ship."

"Right. And I'm sure if I ask _why_ you're just gonna ignore me."

Din did just that, shifting some rubble with his foot but found nothing but rotted wood and ancient cloth that looked like it would crumble if exposed to direct sunlight.

There was a sound of groaning metal, and Din turned to see Sinead trying to pry the droid's chest plate apart with nothing but a small knife and determination.

"What are you doing?"

Sinead glanced at him. "I'm trying to find the memory bank since you would rather shoot first and ask questions later." She stuck out the tip of her tongue as she worked.

"Do you even know what you're doing?"

"At least I'm doing something."

She managed to get the knife under the plate and wrench it up, making the metal shoot away with a clank.

Din kept his distance as she shifted through the droid's innards, looking for the memory bank.

The child moved for the first time in what felt like hours, and a small green hand appeared from the sling. He reached out, and Din let him grab one of his fingers. The contact, even through his glove, comforted him. The kid's dark eyes looked at him, unblinking, in a way that made Din feel like he could see right through his helmet.

Sinead let out a sound of triumph, and the kid let go of Din's hand.

She held up a small black box, fraying wires trailing after it. "I got it," she said, getting up. "Now we just gotta find someone who knows how to extract the data. That shouldn't be too hard."

"Let's go." Din gave the child a small pat on the head before moving towards the door, stepping over the droid with its wires spread across the floor like black entrails.

When they emerged out in the world, the sun hovered a few inches above the horizon, bathing the jungle in a golden light.

He took a deep breath, trying to dispel the stale, dusty air from his lungs. The ruins felt like a presence behind them, trailing after as they returned to the ship.


	5. Tatooine

**AN: Hiya guys, a lil' chapter for you!**

**I forgot to say last chapter, but I decided to use 'fuck' instead of any of the Star Wars certified swearwords, and I hope it doesn't take you too much out of the story. Kriff just doesn't have the same ring to it.**

Chapter 5 - Tatooine

Sinead turned the memory bank over and over, the metal warming up between her hands. Most of her life she'd found herself in close proximity to a mechanic, so learning proper droid maintenance had never been a priority, something she regretted now, looking down at the lifeless box.

A pleasant and familiar hum surrounded her as the ship hurtled through the dark void, lulling her into a sense of calm she hadn't felt since leaving the ruins. Even now, hours later, she felt the presence of it lurking in the back of her mind.

Suddenly, the world tilted, and Sinead crashed to the floor. The memory bank few out of her hands and skipped across the floor. She pushed herself up on her hands and knees, when the ship rocked violently, making her cling to the bunk to keep from being thrown clean across the ship.

Two alarms started wailing in tandem.

She gritted her teeth and grabbed hold of a rung on the ladder, climbing into the cockpit before the ship shook and tipped wildly.

The Mandalorian was in the pilot's seat, his hands flying across the dashboard, flicking switches and trying to stabilize the ship. The kid was strapped into his seat, his head swirling around to look at all the light coming to life.

Sinead sat down and pulled the safety harness over her shoulders.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Company."

The Mandalorian jerked the steering handles and the ship spun away, a volley of blaster bolts whizzing past the window.

According to a screen on the console, a small starfighter flew directly behind them, firing every time the Razor Crest was still for long enough. They'd never be able to outrun or outmaneuver it.

Cold dread expanded from the base of her spine, making her muscles twitch and tense. Every sound seemed dull, like she was hearing it from inside a vacuum.

The starboard turbine was hit, showering the cockpit in sparks as the shock traveled into the main engine. A third alarm joined the cacophony.

Sinead swallowed hard and found her voice. "Doesn't this hunk of metal have any shields?" She grabbed the armrests so hard her knuckles turned white.

The stars turned into streaks as the ship careened to the side, another round of lasers streaking past the window.

It had to be pirates, not many were brazen enough to attack a gunship, even out in the Outer Rim. Maybe this time she'd die instead of-

A shadowy figure flickered to life above the dashboard. "Give us the child, Mando," it said, its voice clipping in and out. "I might let you live."

Sinead looked at the child, who gurgling nervously to himself. She wanted to reach over and reassure him, but the harness was too tight. Why would anyone want the kid badly enough to attack them for it?

And explosion rocked through the ship, and underneath there was a sound of metal groaning.

Flashing lights danced on the Mandalorian's helmet.

"Hold on." Mando sent them into a wild spin, the stars turning into white streaks as all sense of direction spun away as quickly as the ship.

It felt like Sinead had been dropped down a bottomless well.

The hologram warped as power redirected. "I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold," it said before cutting out completely.

There was no way the other ship wouldn't blast them to smithereens the first chance it got.

Mando hit the brakes, and the ship hung unmoving in the air, before the starfighter screamed past it, scraping against the Crest with a sound like an old hovercart in a trash compactor.

Mando fired once, and the laser ripped through the small vessel before it had a chance to spin around and attack. The ship exploded, leaving glittering debris like stardust in its wake.

Sinead sat back in her seat. Her entire midsection felt bruised from the harness, but the alternative was being a smear on the window so she couldn't complain.

"Nice flying." She didn't mean for it to come out sounding so sarcastic, but fear and adrenaline still coursed through her veins, making the blood rush in her ears.

The Mandalorian either didn't hear or ignored her, as he checked the status of the ship.

"Losing fuel," he mumbled mostly to himself.

Sinead undid her safety harness and reached over to the child. "Are you okay there?"

The kid laughed as the power went out and they found themselves in complete darkness.

"I think he's okay," Sinead said, gently booping him on the nose. "Please say we're not stranded out here."

"I think I can redirect the power," the Mandalorian said, getting up and flicking a switch at the back of the cockpit.

The ship came to life, a sad, sputtering one that wouldn't last long, but enough so that Mando could propel it towards the nearest planet, an orange dust ball hanging in the void.

"Are you gonna tell me who's after the kid?"

Mando glanced at her over his shoulder.

"You know, this whole silence thing is getting old. At least come up with a lie like the rest of us."

Mando _glared _at her, and Sinead offered him a sharp smile.

The planet was getting closer and closer when Sinead leaned forward. "What is this place even? Or are you not going to answer that either?"

"Tatooine."

"Oh, that's just _great."_

The Mandalorian adjusted their course toward a small smidge on the planet's surface. "The Hutt's been dead for years, and he hasn't been replaced yet."

Sinead made an uncertain sound. "Yet, but I'm sure the clan's just waiting until the region is stable again. They're not exactly the type to give up a planet without a fight."

"You been here before?"

"No, but I've heard it's a desolate hellhole."

Gold-orange crags and sand dunes took form as they cruised over the surface, the ship groaning with the effort it took to keep them in one piece.

Sand. She really hated sand.

The comm came to life and a scratchy voice filled the cockpit.

"This is Mos Eisley tower, we're tracking you. Head for bay 3-5. Over."

"Copy that. Locked in for 3-5."

Mos Eisley was nearly impossible to see, a sandstone city poking up through the sand which piled up at the walls making the squat houses look like igloos in the desert. A communication tower rose from the center of the city, its blinking lights the only reason most travelers spotted the city from the air.

The ship wobbled as it made ready for landing, and new alarm blared. The Mandalorian turned it off with an irritated slap on the console.

The kid had fallen asleep sometime after the excitement of the dogfight died down, and the Mandalorian left him sleeping on the bunk, while Sinead retrieved the memory bank, which had ended up on the other side of the ship and stowing it away in the nearest compartment.

Mando looked at her. "Maybe you should stay in the ship."

Sinead blew out a deep breath. "As you said, the Hutt's long dead. I can take a look around his old palace, see if there's something we can use."

"Just be careful."

Sinead snuck a glance at the Mandalorian. He wasn't looking at her.

"Sure."

Even before the ramp was down, Sinead felt the hot, unyielding fingers of the desert close around her throat. Dry heat snuck under her clothes, making her mouth feel as dry as the surroundings. Cold, unwanted memories pushed to the forefront and she took a second to put them back where they belonged, a dark and unused corner of her mind where they wouldn't get in the way.

Three pit droids hurried toward the ship the second the ramp touch down, their rusty bodies bouncing over dusty ground like springs.

The Mandalorian pulled his blaster and shot once at the ground in front of the droids, who screeched and collapsed into small heaps, cowering in f-ear.

Sinead yelped and pressed a hand to her racing heart. "Fuck, Mando! What is it with you and droids?"

"Hey!" A shout rang out from inside a cluttered garage, and a short human woman wearing greasy overalls stormed out from behind a safety barrier. Her short stature was almost made up by her rather gravity defying hair. "You damage one of my droids, you pay for it!" The way she was brandishing a heavy wrench left exactly how he'd pay for it up to interpretation.

"Just keep them away from my ship," Mando ground out, shooting a look at the droids who scurried away.

The mechanic gave him an unimpressed look. "Yeah? Do you think that's a good idea, do ya? Let's take a look at your ship."

She walked around it, noting every dent and scratch on her datapad. "Look at that," she said, holding a scanner up to the ship. "You gotta lotta carbon scorching building up top. If I didn't know better, think you were in a shootout."

Sinead stepped forward before the Mandalorian had a chance to reply. "We ran into a meteor shower out by the Torq. Barely made it planet-side, to tell you the truth."

"Uh-huh," the mechanic lifted an eyebrow, but she stopped asking questions, turning around to continue her inspection. "… a special tool for that one. Oh yeah, I'm gonna have to rotate that."

The Mandalorian rolled his shoulders, and Sinead bit the inside of her cheek. That all sounded very expensive.

"You got a fuel leak! Look at this, this is a mess. How did you even land?"

"Like I said, just barely." Sinead shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "How much for it?"

"The repairs you need ain't exactly cheap-"

"I've got five hundred Imperial credits," the Mandalorian said.

The mechanic grabbed the credits and have them a good look. "That's all you got?" When the Mandalorian didn't magically procure more money, she looked at the droids. "Well, what do you guys think?"

The droids tittered in unison, and the mechanic shrugged. "That should at least cover the hangar."

"We'll get you your money."

"Mm, I've heard that before." She gave both Sinead and the Mandalorian a skeptical look.

"Just remember- "

"Yeah, no droids. I heard ya'. You don't have to say it twice."

Sinead looked back at the ship as they left the hangar, a thin pillar of smoke was rising from the turbine and the mechanic had already started banging around underneath it.

The second she stepped out into the blaring sunlight, her face stung with sand being blasted through the street. If she never had to step foot in the desert again, she'd die a happy woman.

"So, what's the plan?" She asked the Mandalorian, who didn't look bothered in the heat. Of course, since she couldn't see his face he might be dying underneath the helmet. The T-visor seemed completely black in the sunlight.

"I'll head to the cantina, see if I can find work. Don't get too close to the palace, the Hutt's guards might still be around."

Sinead gritted her teeth. "Right, I have been in these kinds of situations before you know: I'm not helpless."

"That's not-" the Mandalorian blew out a sharp breath and shook his head. "Never mind."

Sinead made her way to the Hutt's palace alone, reminding herself to breathe regularly, not too deep and not too shallow. She was just a tourist walking alone, not a runaway slave from the very clan that until recently had an iron grip on the planet. The people walking past her weren't staring, they didn't recognize her at all.

She clenched her hands so they'd stop fidgeting. It felt like someone was watching her, a burning spike to the back of her head.

A market had been raised in a big square, rows and rows of hastily put together stalls crisscrossed in a confusing jumble. Shouts from the many vendors mingled in the air into an incomprehensible wall of sound. A Besalisk was grilling sweet meats over an open fire, holding a skewer in each of his four hands. The meat sizzled as Sinead walked past.

Two Jawas screamed in unison at everyone who came close enough to their stall, doing little to entice anyone to stop. Piles of scrap spilled into the street, and the Jawas screeched in indignation whenever anyone accidentally stepped on it.

Sinead ambled down the rows, trying to look like she was browsing the goods without attracting so much attention that anyone would talk to her. Most of the wares being sold were practical, tools and dried food, spare parts for droids. Under a moth-eaten pavilion that offered little in the way of shade, she found a small booth filled with trinkets that looked like they had been ripped straight out of the bowels of a ship. There were brooches made of twisted metal and rings that doubled as lug nuts.

An old woman sat on the other side of the stall. She wore ragged clothes that at first glance made her look like a scarecrow left out in the sun for too long, and it wasn't until she moved that Sinead noticed her. Her face was disproportionately small for her body, resembling a walnut someone left on top of a pile of old laundry.

"See anything you like?" Her voice sounded like a trash compacter filled with rocks. "I make 'em myself."

That wasn't hard to believe. Sinead hummed politely and picked up a brooch made from cogs and a rubber binding. "I'm afraid jewelry isn't that high of a priority right now."

Her wrinkles deepened as she pursed her lips. "Meh, people don't even know what they need until it's right in front of 'em. Tell ya' what, I'll give you a good deal, okay? The earrings for fifty creds."

Sinead couldn't help but snort. The earrings in question were made from old circuitry, the hooks so rusty that wearing them was a surefire way of getting a nasty infection. "Fifty is a bit steep, don't you think?"

The old woman grinned, showing her one snaggletooth poking over her lower lip. "Low price to pay for beauty, innit?"

Tapping on the table Sinead though for a second before saying, "tell you what, I'll buy one of your-" she gestured to the assorted jewelry- "wares … if you can give me some information in return."

The old lady grinned again, her tooth a terrible distraction, looking like a broken roof shingle. "Let's hear it then. What'ya want?"

"Oh no, information first, then the sale."

A shadow fell across the woman's face as she glared Sinead, her watery eyes studying her face. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you didn't trust me."

Sinead kept her face carefully neutral. "Past experiences have taught me to hold payment until after I get what I want. I'm sure you understand, right?"

There was a cruel glint in the old woman's eyes. "You bet I do. Ask away, dear."

For one long moment, Sinead blanked on what to ask her. She wanted to talk about the Hutt, but the old crone had done nothing to inspire trust.

"The entire galaxy was turned upside down when the Empire fell. How was it here?"

The old woman cackled and folded her wizened hands over her stomach. "You haven't seen our little art project out by the wall, have ya'? A little parting gift from us to the Empire."

"Who controls the planet now? The New Republic-"

The old woman spat on the sand.

"... right."

"We control ourselves, dearie." Sinead had never heard a term of endearment used with so much venom. "We ain't need anyone come here and tell us how to run our own damn home. After they got the message, most of the bucketheads left. The ones who didn't, well, they make a good decoration, don't they?"

"A place outside the grip of the Empire and the Republic sounds nice."

"Sounds like you have something to hide."

Sinead shrugged. "I don't like tyrants or bureaucracy."

"We got rid of our old tyrant years ago, ain't ever looked back since," the old woman sneered,

There we go.

Sinead shifted her weight and leaned closer. "Heard about that on the subspace, that's nasty business. Any chance the Hutt's head is hanging with the others? I'd like to go give my goodbyes in person."

The old woman peered at Sinead. "Sounds personal."

"As far as I'm concerned, hating the Hutt clan is everyone's business, and those who don't are either terminally stupid or, well, part of the Hutt clan."

"That kriffin' piece of blubber is probably still out in the Dune Sea somewhere. I doubt even the bloatflies'll touch his stinking corpse."

"He was killed in his palace? I heard that place is a fortress."

"My boy went out with some of the others, just to have a little lookie-loo at the place, but the slaves didn't wanna let nobody in. Said they've taken over. Been coming in from all over the galaxy, the buggers."

"They still out there?"

The old woman seemed to remember herself. "You ask an awful lot of question, dearie. Maybe it's time you hold up your end of the bargain, hmm?"

Sinead opened her mouth to protest. If Tatooine had managed to rid themselves completely of Hutt control, then maybe other systems would follow suit. The dangerous look in the old woman's eyes told her, however, that pressing on would be a bad idea.

"Sure," she said, looking earnestly at the merchandise. "Uh, yeah … how much for the necklace?" It was the only thing that, if you squinted and stood five meters away on a foggy day might resemble jewelry. It looked like an old optic unit ripped from a droid and attached to a leather string.

"Hundred creds."

"You're joking."

"My information doesn't come cheap, girl. I can always call the guards, say you robbed me of my hard-earned knowledge."

For once, Sinead was momentarily lost for words. "That doesn't-"

"Since the Empire left, we've had to handle justice ourselves, you see, and sometimes the new guards can be a little rough."

Sinead bared her teeth in a smile. "I'll give you twenty."

"Eighty."

"Thirty."

"Seventy-five."

"Thirty-five."

"Seventy-five."

Sinead tossed some credits on the table. "Forty. That's literally the last credits I own."

The old woman snatched the credits with remarkable speed, squirreling them away in her dirty cowl.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Sinead said, stuffing the necklace into her pocket before moving on from the stall.

When she got back to the hangar, the suns had reached the top of the sky and it had impossibly gotten even hotter.

Mando came walking from the other side, his gleaming armor standing out between the bedraggled denizens of Tatooine. He sped up when he saw Sinead.

"You should stay in the ship," he said, when they reached the door to the hangar at the same time.

"You know, people usually greet each other before starting to bark commands, you should really try it."

The Mandalorian shook his head, grumbling under his breath.

"Did you manage to find work, or do we have to go back empty handed? I have a feeling that won't go over too well with the mechanic."

"I did, but look … does the name Fennec Shand mean anything to you?"

The color drained from Sinead's face.

"She's hiding out in the Dune Sea with a bounty on her head. I have to bring her back."

"Alive?"

"Yes."

"What a shame."

Fennec Shand's name brought with it a very special kind of dread. Every Hutt slave had heard stories of Fennec Shard bringing back runaway slaves in a condition where they wished they were dead.

"I'll stay in the ship." Sinead looked around, like she expected Shand to jump out from behind the nearest hover-cart. "How long will it take?"

"I don't know. I'm bringing this kid … it doesn't matter."

Sinead bit her lips. "Just make sure you get her. I don't want her coming to Mos Eisley in a murderous rage."

The Mandalorian moved towards the entrance to the hangar, and when the door opened, the smell of oil and metal hit them.

She wanted to get off this planet, doubly so now she knew that a vicious killer for hire had made this her home. There was nothing to do but wait.


	6. The Mechanic

**AN: Hello! I'm sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out, it turned out way longer than expected so I chose to split it in two. The good news is that the next chapter only needs one last round of editing and then it's done.**

Chapter 6 – The Mechanic

The hangar was quiet when they entered, no sign of the mechanic or her pit droids anywhere.

At the starboard side of the ship a panel had been moved aside and complicated machinery was exposed to the world. Parts of the turbine had been ripped out, making sure that the ship wouldn't be able to get off the ground.

As she examined the ship, Sinead's eyes strayed to the exit by their own volition, her heart beating just a little bit faster. Rationally, she knew that Fennec Shand had no idea that she was even there, and Sinead didn't think herself so important that she was a target, but the scared, vulnerable part of her brain screamed at her to find passage on the next ship out of there and never look back.

Sinead started when Mando shouted and came thundering out of the ship, looking around wildly.

"The kid's gone."

"What do you-"

Mando zeroed in on one of the pit droids. "Where is he?"

The poor droid collapsed in the sand with a shriek.

The mechanic came out from her workshop, cradling the kid. "Quiet!" She looked down at the cranky child. "Oh, it's okay. You woke it up! Do you have any idea how long it took me to get it to sleep?"

Mando stared at the mechanic, his body radiating barely repressed nervous energy. "Give him to me."

The mechanic shifted her grip on the child. "Not so fast! You can't just leave a child all alone like that. You know, you two have an awful lot to learn about raisin' a young one."

Sinead's eyes widened. "Oh, he's not mine."

The mechanic pursed her lips and looked from Mando to Sinead. "Right ..." she said. "Anyway, I stared the repair on the fuel leak." The diagnostic machine beeped angrily, and she gave it a good whack. "There you go. I have a couple of setbacks I want to talk to you about. You know, I didn't use any droids, as requested, so it took me a lot longer than I expected."

Mando fetched a bag from the ship. "She'll stay back if you have any questions." He nodded toward Sinead.

The mechanic looked her up and down. "Do you know your way around a starship?"

"Provided with a map I'm sure I can figure it out."

"Don't go thinking it's gonna be cheaper just cause you leave some help behind! You still owe me-"

"I know." Mando stopped in front of the mechanic, who looked at him suspiciously. "Thank you."

"Oh …" She shot Sinead a confused look, who could do nothing but shrug. Apparently, gratitude was a rare thing in Mos Eisley.

The Mandalorian moved toward the exit with the mechanic hot on his heels. Sinead stayed by the ship, wondering if she should find somewhere to hide, or if it would be too hard to explain to the mechanic.

A droid slinked up to the ship, a small wrench in its hand.

"Sorry," Sinead said, and the droid stopped in its tracks. "The Mandalorian don't want any droids on the ship. Don't ask me why."

The droid beeped dejectedly and let the wrench slip from its hands and fall to the ground with a thud.

Sinead was poking around the damaged side of the ship when the mechanic came back, holding the child on her hip.

"He's left with some Corellian looking fella." She pointed a thumb over her shoulder. "You know what that's about?"

Sinead didn't, as the mere mention of Fennec Shand had put all other considerations on the sideline.

"I don't like the look of him. He's too ..." the mechanic searched for the right word. "Young."

"I think the Mandalorian can take care of himself."

"Eh, you're probably right. He could break that little twerp in two if he wanted. You want down?"

"Wha-? Oh."

The kid was let down on the ground and toddled toward Sinead, his small feet making tracks in the sand. When he came to a power-converter, he tried climbing it instead of going around and teetered on the edge before Sinead grabbed him.

"That's not for climbing," she said, already pulling her braid out of his hands.

"Now you're here, I might actually get some work done." The mechanic grabbed a toolbox and moved to the open panel. "You know what species he is?"

Sinead sat down on a durasteel crate, the kid sitting calmly on her lap. She let him grab her braid, since it was apparently the only thing he was interested in.

"I've no idea. The Mandalorian hasn't exactly been in a sharing mood when it comes to the kid."

"Yeah, he doesn't seem the chatty type."

"You don't know half of it." The child cooed when Sinead lifted him to examine his little face. "Maybe he's a lannik."

"Now I haven't seen a lannik in a day and a half, but I'm pretty sure they didn't use to be green."

"Mm, stranger things have happened."

The kid seemed to understand, somehow, that they were talking about him. He babbled a short string of nonsensical sounds and gave her a toothy smile.

There was something about him that made Sinead sure he wasn't a lannik; he was strange in a way she couldn't put her finger on, when she looked into his dark eyes, it felt like something much older looked back.

The harsh smell of fuel hit her nose, and Sinead wondered if she should move further away, but as long as the mechanic didn't run, she supposed there was nothing to worry about.

"Name's Peli, by the way." She used both hands to clamp down on a pipe that dripped fuel. "Did you say you know anything about ship repairs?"

"I'm Chela. And that really depends on what you want me to do. I grew up around freighters, but never really had an interest in learning how they work."

Peli shot Sinead a look over her shoulder.

"Sorry. But what do you want me to do?"

"Take the hydroclamp over there-" she nodded toward a greasy toolbox- "and put it right next to my hand, will ya'?"

Sinead placed the child on the ground, and he waddled after her as she went to grab the clamp.

"Hey!" Peli shouted to one of her droids. "Make sure the kid doesn't get in the way."

Sinead crouched down next to Peli. From here, the smell of fuel nearly knocked her over. "So just put it here?"

"Don't scratch the pipe, or else we have a whole new leak on our hands."

The hydroclamp whirred as it compressed around the pipe, stopping the leak.

Peli got off her knees and stretched, and there were new stains on her overalls. She didn't seem to mind. "That's one fire out. Now on to the next three hundred. What did you do to this boat?"

"I told you, meteors."

"Uh-huh. Must have been one of them new starships that shoot meteors instead of lasers."

"Might have been. Stranger things, and all that."

"Strange, right."

Next, Peli showed Sinead how to remove the camburator and replace it with one that wasn't half melted into the circuitry. Peli carefully removed the burnt chunk of metal but before she had a chance to put in the new one, a random charge went through the wires and a flame shot out from the hole.

"Kark!" Peli yelled and jumped back. "Where's the damn-"

One of the droids came bounding up, beeping cheerfully all the way. A small panel on its helmet slid aside and it doused the fire, a strong scent of chemicals overpowering the smell of fuel. When it was done, it turned to Peli who gave it a quick pat on the head.

"Figure his no droid policy doesn't extend to emergencies."

The kid watched all this sitting a safe distance away, his small hands buried in the sand.

"Whatever jackass modified this boat did a piss-poor job of it. Who links a baffler to a flux surger? Was this put together by a Kowakian monkey-lizard on spice?"

Sinead cautiously stepped forward to look at the damage. It didn't look like the fire had done anything but scorch the metal plating on the ship, that already looked like it'd flown through an active volcano. "Can you fix it?"

Peli made a sound at the back of her throat. "Can I fix it she asks." She exchanged a look with the droid. "Sure, but I can't promise it'll hold in the long run. Those meteors really did a number on you."

Sinead shot a look toward the exit. "Just as long as we get off this planet."

"Not a fan of the heat are ya?"

"The sand. It gets everywhere."

Peli snorted as she grabbed a complex tool and started work on the camburator. "Yeah, the desert isn't for everyone. You should stay back, by the way, easier to do on my own. Don't wanna have to worry about you electrocuting yourself on the y-brantor."

Sinead didn't complain, pulling back and leaning against the remains of a half-gutted hoverbike.

She watched Peli work for a bit. "Has Tatooine changed a lot since the Hutt died?"

"Oh, heard about that, have you?" Peli didn't look up from the ship.

"Everyone this side of the galaxy has heard that the Hutt croaked."

"I guess you're right. Well, instead of paying protection money to the fat slug, we give 'em to whatever gang happens to be top dog this week." She pulled out another burned part. "Can't complain though, at least these ones don't break my droids when I'm a few credits short."

"Seems a bit counterintuitive, doesn't it, breaking your droids? How are you supposed to make any money then?"

"Yeah, I'd say take it up with Jabba, but you're kinda late for that."

"Let's just hope the afterlife is filled with salt pits."

"Personally, I hope he's stuck in the belly of a sarlacc."

Sinead smiled at the thought. "Oh, that's good."

Peli had her entire head inside the ship when she spoke, making her voice sound muffled. "So how long've you been traveling with the Mandalorian?"

"Not that long. Around four days, perhaps?" It was always so hard to tell when most of the time they spent hurling through space.

"Is it really true they never take their helmets off?"

"Seems so. I've never seen him without it."

"Well-" Peli pulled her head out, a smear of oil across her forehead- "how do they eat?"

"You know, I haven't actually seen him eat. Or sleep, for that matter."

"You think he's a droid?"

Sinead huffed out a laugh. "You know, that would explain so much."

Their conversation halted when the kid wobbled over to Sinead, who sat him down next to her on the hoverbike. He had found a bolt somewhere and was examining it with childish curiosity.

"You've been on Tatooine all your life?" Sinead said after the silence had gotten too much. It was nice talking to someone who knew how to have a normal conversation.

"Born and bred. My da worked the space port before me. Taught me all I know."

A small, wistful smile spread across Sinead's face. Her father had tried teaching her about ship maintenance, but she hadn't been interested to learn, she would rather fly, explore the galaxy. His voice rang through her head, 'you're not gonna get farther than the next system over if you don't know how to take care of your ship, space-bug.' And then he leaned over and kissed her forehead. Her heart ached. She hadn't thought about that in a long time.

"Chela? You all right there?"

Sinead blinked and looked around. She was still in the hangar on Tatooine, and her father had been dead for 11 years.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, can you repeat that?"

Peli looked at her, her brows knitted. "Sure. Said I started working alongside him when I was old enough to hold a wrench and not kill myself by wandering in front of an ignited turbine."

"And your mother? She was a mechanic too?"

"Nah, was a scavenger out in the Dune Sea. Never had a mind for mending machines, only pulling them apart, she used to say. Sand People got her about fifteen years ago."

The kid pulled himself upright and tried crawling onto Sinead's lap. She caught him before he slipped.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It was a long time ago. Da went a couple of years later, left the work to me. Can't complain, lots of people would kill for a job with steady credits. Providin' the customers pay, of course."

"You get a lot of traffic here?"

"Mos Eisley's the biggest spaceport on Tatooine, so we get our fair share. Not lacking for work, that's for sure. You'd think that after the Hutt's death, smugglers and grifters wouldn't have a reason to dock, but they still show up like mold."

"Maybe Tatooine has something special to offer."

"Ha! We ain't got nothing to offer except sand and Jawas."

"And I'm sure that out there, someone is just dying to find a place filled with nothing but just that. That person is probably psychotic, but they're out there."

Peli's laugh echoed from where her entire upper body was inside the ship. "Chela, you're all right."

Biting her lips, Sinead looked up at the blue sky, suddenly feeling very lonely. No matter how well they connected, Peli would always know her as Chela.

She changed the subject. "So, you have any good stories to tell me? Any shady smugglers or dashing rogues come your way? I'm sure working here all your life you must've seen a thing or two.

Peli stood up, her face contorting in pain as she grabbed her back. "You know, you ask a lot of questions, Startin' to feel like I'm being interrogated here."

"Sorry about that. I just like hearing stories. I had a broken holorecorder when I was little, that only recorded sound, and I went around interviewing everyone who would let me."

"What happened to it?"

"It was ... lost, a long time ago. We traveled a lot, so I guess I needed something to occupy my time with-"

"Didn't learn a damn thing about starships, that's for sure."

"-so I started collecting stories. Everyone has something to tell."

"You know, most people collect interesting rocks, funny drawings ..."

"Hey, out in space there's a distinct lack of interesting rocks. I found the next best thing."

Peli shot her a look before returning to work on the ship. Her curly hair was plastered to her forehead. "So, to answer your question, yes, I have a couple of stories from over the years. I don't know if you noticed it on your little stroll around town, but this ain't exactly Coruscant. We get lucky if we go one day without a shootout in the street."

"Hey, I've been to Coruscant once and I barely got off the ship before someone tried to sell me some spice. I'm sure Mos Eisley isn't that different."

"Sounds like what happened to Brendo last week. Hope you didn't end up with a vibro-blade between the ribs."

Sinead snorted. "No, it didn't go that far."

Peli came up again, this time with a small component in her hands. She sat down on the nearest surface and started to pry it open. "Now let's see, a good story for your collection ..."

Sinead settled in and listened to a long-winded story involving a banged-up YT-1300, a bunch of imperial stormtroopers, and a hangar left in ruins.

"I don't suppose the Empire paid your friend for damages?"

"Bastards nearly arrested him on account of 'harboring a fugitive', go figure. And you know, I was pissed that slimy bastard stole my dock. Changed my tune when I saw what they did to the place."

"Did he manage to salvage anything, or is it still a smoking hole in the ground?"

"After clearing out the rubble, the place was mostly working again. Ugly, but usable, which is the official Mos Eisley motto if you ain't noticed."

Stars dotted the sky, which had gone from azure to a dark blue. Surrounded by tall walls, the shadows seemed deeper, but in contrast, even though the suns had set, the stonework had spent all day baking in the sun and was still radiating heat. It wouldn't be long until that heat dissipated, and the desert would grow freezing cold. It reminded Sinead of many night on Sriluur huddled under a thin blanket, waiting for the sun to rise.

"He's still telling that story to every poor bastard he manages to corner. As he tells it, he's lucky to be alive."

Peli and Sinead sat at a low table under the stars, looking at the ship that had been fixed as well as any competent mechanic could. At least it no longer looked like it had been to hell and back.

The tall walls surrounding them blocked out all sounds of Mos Eisley.

Sinead leaned back in her uncomfortable chair and looked up at the darkened sky.

"So, you've always known you wanted to be a ship mechanic?"

Peli looked up from the datapad she was thumbing through. "Yes ma'am, ever since I was a little 'un. Growing up in a spaceport certainly helped, but I've always found that ships spoke to me, sort of. Does that make sense?"

Sinead leaned back even further, almost slipping out of the chair. "Sure it does."

"What about you? You always knew you wanted to be a ..." Peli gave Sinead a scrutinizing look. "Smuggler?"

"I'm not a smuggler," Sinead said with a laugh. "I'm ... I don't really know what I am. Searching, I guess."

"Hey, ain't any of my business. Learned a long time ago there're more creds for those who keep their traps shut."

Sinead gave her a soft smile. "'Preciate it."

The child slept on a chair beside Sinead, swaddled in a blanket to ward off the oncoming chill. She reached out and ran a finger over his little head.

"You know, back when I was your age, one of them big freighters stopped by to regroup after their ship was in a tiff with some pirates or other. I was brought on to help them sort themselves out, and I guess the foreman took a likin' to me because he offered me a job on the ship."

"Well then, what're you doing here?"

"Easy now. I ain't gonna lie, I was mighty tempted to take it. They needed someone who had a way with boats _and_ droids. Apparently the last one ended up skipping out after first pay." Peli eyes were hazy with old memories.

"Why didn't you?"

Peli huffed out a breath. "Tattoine is my home. I ain't got much in the way of family, but I got my droids, and that's gotta be enough." She affectionately patted the closest droid on its domed head. "This one got chucked after a podrace, found him out by the dump, nothing but a pile of bolts and rust. Think he got hit by a podracer down in the pit."

Sinead looked at the little droid.

"Imagine if I hadn't been here, what would've happened to him. I pretty much had to remake him from the bottoms-"

"Wait ..." Sinead held up a hand to stop Peli. "You fix droids ..."

Peli's eyebrows knitted together. "Yeah. Chela, are you-"

"Hold on."

Sinead got up from the chair so fast it nearly tipped back and raced to the ship. No time to turn on the lights, she ripped open a compartment and rifled through it until her fingers closed around the memory bank.

When she came back, the child was awake and looking around blearily. He reached out to her, but she skirted around and placed the little box in front of Peli, who now looked thoroughly confused.

"Can you find out what's on this?"

Peli picked up the memory bank. "Kriff, Chela, what did you do to this thing? Remove it with a sledgehammer?"

Sinead's smile was strained. "Something like that. Can you do it?"

Peli turned the box over and over, looking at the fraying wires. "Shouldn't be a problem, I can reroute it through one of my droids."

"You can't connect it with a datapad or something?"

"This came out of a droid, meaning it's going into a droid if we want to know what's on it. You know what we're looking for?" Peli said, getting up and striding into her workshop.

Sinead followed her closely, picking at her fingernails as Peli went around turning on the lights and grabbing various tools.

The workshop was cluttered in a very particular, organized way found in garages and repair stations all over the galaxy; gear and instruments were strewn across every surface not occupied by ship-parts in various states of repair. An old astromech had been chucked in the corner, ripped for parts until it was nothing but a hollow shell. The low ceiling seemed to trap the overpowering smell of fuel and oil.

Peli sat down on an overturned oil-drum and called over the nearest droid, who came slinking up to her, clearly not enthused about the prospect of having a foreign element plugged into its brain.

"Oh, don't be such a baby," Peli said when the droid beeped sadly. "It'll be over in a sec." With a knife she replaced the wires with new ones and started plugging them into the droid.

Sinead heard a sound behind her, and she turned to see the one of the other droids walk up with the child in its arms.

"Done," Peli said, leaning back from the droid. "Give it some time to calibrate and ask away."

Her mouth was dry. Sinead forced herself to swallow and took a deep breath.

"Are there any records of a Kyen Beck ever having been on the facility?"

The droid trilled a long line of binary.

"My binary's a bit rusty, can you ...?"

Peli sat up in the chair. "Oh, sure. Um ... it says that ... there are records of a K. Beck being shipped to the facility. Is that it? Who's-?"

Sinead found the nearest clear surface and sat down. Heart hammering in her chest, she felt the ground shifting under her feet. It was like seeing the convor again, the sheer_ proof_ that Kyen was a tangible person who had left a sign for her.

"Where did he go next? I-I mean, does it say what happened to him?"

Peli listened to the droid. "No it doesn't, I'm afraid."

Her heart _hurt._

Sinead leaned forward and buried her face in her hands. "_Fuck."_

"I gotta know, who's Kyen?"

Peering through her fingers, Sinead saw Peli's worried eyes looking back. "Please don't ask any questions. I'm not in the mood to come up with a lie."

"Most folks aren't as forthcoming about the fact that they're lying."

"Not in the mood to pretend I'm not a liar either."

Sinead leaned back and took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the smell of oil. She knew for a fact that Kyen had been there, just not where he went.

The droid beeped another long string of binary that Sinead didn't even bother trying to figure out.

"Wait a minute-" Peli listened to the droid, her brow furrowed in concentration- "according to this, all of the slaves-" she gave Sinead a shocked look- "were sent to a mining facility on Celva-Celvalara. Where's that?"

For the second time in as many minutes, Sinead's heart jumped into overdrive. "Celvalara? I've heard that before ..." she got up and started pacing around.

Peli watched her go in circles, rolling an old metal spring between her palms. "It's a planet?"

Sinead was about to answer, when her deeply ingrained self-preservation kicked in and she stopped herself before saying too much. She did recognize it, but that didn't mean she had to tell everyone.

"I don't know. I'll look into it." She reached Peli and took her hands into her own. "Thank you," she said sincerely. "I really mean it."

Something akin to a blush spread over Peli's face, mostly obscured by the perpetual layer of dirt and oil covering it. "Um, yeah, well, I didn't exactly fight a sarlacc, did I."

"You might as well." Sinead squeezed her hands. "Thank you."

She rummaged in her pockets and withdrew the necklace, which had been tangled into a small ball. "I have this ... thing ... it's not much, but please take it as payment."

Peli peered at it. "You got that from Zinza?"

"If you mean the old lady with the disagreeable attitude, then yes."

"Ha! How much did you pay for that thing?"

"Forty creds."

"Forty! You got ripped off."

Sinead let out a small chuckle. "I think paying _anything_ would constitute as being ripped off."

Peli cackled and waved her away. "Keep it. Who knows, you might end up meeting a blind droid in need of an optic unit."

"I'll make sure to give you a good tip, then."

"I like the sound of that."


	7. The Stranger

Chapter 7 – The Stranger

A shout rendered the air followed by a crash, and Sinead's eyes flew open, her hand curling around the blaster hidden under the bunk. She could hear raised voices from outside of the ship.

It was that time of the night where the desert had had time to cool down, until it almost felt like she was back on Toola. She'd left the ramp down, in case the Mandalorian came back, but as her bare feet hit the metal floor she sorely regretted it.

Sinead crept towards the open cargo door, where eerie pale light streamed in, making the shadows in the ship seem unfathomably deep. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she peered over the ramp. The hangar was bathed in moonlight, turning the sand grey and making it seem like she'd been transported to a desolate moonscape while she slept.

The only light came from Peli's workshop, it flickered as someone passed it. There was another crash and a male voice she didn't recognize.

"Where is it? I know you have it!"

Peli's voice rose, sharp and angry. "It's not here! Now get the hell out of my workshop, you slimy little-"

"I know you have the child! Give it here!"

Something touched Sinead's ankle, and she whirled around, blaster raised.

The kid looked back at her, his big dark eyes looking unfathomably deep in the darkness and seeming much more alert that he should have been so late in the night. He cooed softly.

Sinead shushed him and glanced at the workshop, where the two shadows seemed to be moving closer. Grabbing him, she snuck down the ramp and ducked down behind a stack of crates just before Peli and a human man appeared from the workshop.

The man was young, and he glanced nervously back at the door as they moved towards the ship. If he hadn't been pointing a blaster at Peli's back, he would've been handsome.

"That's his ship?" He made a face. "What a dump."

"Well, you're welcome to pick up a wrench and start workin'. I'll even hold your blaster for ya." Peli glared over her shoulder, earning herself a shove with the blaster.

The child clung to her side, and Sinead pressed a clammy hand to his head, trying to soothe without making any noise.

Peli slowed down the closer they got to the ship. "Look, if it's credits you want, I can give you-"

"You really have no idea how valuable it is, do you? When I bring this in I'll have enough credits to buy this shithole of a port." He shot a disdainful look at the surrounding walls. "Now walk."

They disappeared into the ship, and Sinead could hear them move around, loud thumps whenever something was thrown across the ship. Sinead bit her lips, hoping that they wouldn't check her belongings to see if the child was hiding there.

"Where is it?"

"I told you numbnuts, _it isn't here. _Do I look like a babysitter to you? I gave it to someone to look after so I could finish the ship. Honestly."

There was a small pocket between two crates, half covered by an old tarp, and Sinead left the child, pulling the tarp over him. "Stay here," she whispered, hoping beyond hope that he could somehow understand her. She waited a second to make sure he stayed put, and then circled around the ship, scurrying from cover to cover.

There was one final thump from inside the ship, and Peli came out, the stranger right behind her, his eyes wide. He ran a hand through his hair.

"You know, for some strange reason I just don't believe you. I've only been here for, what, a week? And I've never met more dishonest folks in my life."

"Should put that on a sign," Peli hissed, shooting a hateful look over her shoulder.

The stranger whirled her around and pushed her to the ground.

"Okay, here's how we're gonna do it." He shook his blaster at her. "You're gonna tell me where you hid the kid and I won't feed you to a sarlacc. Got it?"

Peli fought into a sitting position. "C'mon, kid, you ain't gonna kill me." She wet her lips. "I've seen puffer pigs more ferocious than you. You don't have it in you."

"Wanna bet your life on that?"

Sinead swore under her breath as the stranger lifted his blaster, looking Peli dead in the eyes. Her legs moved before her brain had even finished processing what was happening.

Holding her blaster in a tight grip, she stepped into view.

"Wait-"

She ducked as a blaster bolt whizzed over her head and made a crater in the wall behind her. The smell of plasma filled her nose.

The stranger didn't lower his blaster. "Who the hell are you?" His eyes were wide, and he moved to the side to keep both Peli and Sinead in his sight at the same time.

"An idiot, that's who," Peli mumbled.

"I really wouldn't do that if I were you," Sinead said, taking a small step toward them.

"Stay back!" The stranger commanded. "And drop your blaster! Drop it, or I'll blow her head off." He gestured angrily at Peli with his blaster.

"Don't do anything stupid, alright? Calm down." Sinead threw her blaster in the sand. "There. You happy now?"

He snatched the blaster from the ground and threw it out of reach. "Who are you?"

Sinead kept her eyes on the stranger, scared that if she didn't, she would end up looking at where the child was hidden away. "I'm an apprentice."

"You don't look like an apprentice." He looked her up and down, and Sinead had to fight the impulse to cross her arms in front of her chest. She felt very exposed in her thin shirt; at least she was wearing pants to ward off the cold.

"I don't make it a habit of sleeping in my overalls. You can always come back tomorrow, I'm sure I'll look more the part then."

"I don't think so. You see, I know you aren't an apprentice. There're two beds in there, and one of them has been slept in recently."

Well, that was that, then. Sinead bit the inside of her cheek. "So what's the plan, then? Hm? You take the child and then what? You honestly believe the Mandalorian would let you leave this planet alive?"

At the sound of that name the stranger eyes flickered to the entrance to the hangar. "He'll still be stuck out in the desert by the time I reach Navarro."

So, he was scared of the Mandalorian. Understandable.

"I'm guessing this is the first Mandalorian you've worked with."

"And why would you think that?"

"Mandalorians have a habit of always coming out on top, no matter the odds."

"I'm Corellian. I don't believe in odds."

Cocky bastard.

"That's a shame because the odds of you never leaving the planet are getting pretty high. Unless, of course, you just turn and walk away. The galaxy is a big place, I doubt we'll ever see each other again."

"Less talking," he said, obnoxiously waving his blaster, "and more finding the child."

"You still don't get it, do you? If you try to take the child, the Mandalorian will find you. He's a bounty hunter, you think there's anywhere in the galaxy you can hide where he won't follow?"

"I'm a bounty hunter too, sweetheart."

She bit her tongue to hold back her scathing reply. Antagonizing him further would only end in death, probably her own.

A soft cooing sound froze her to the ground, her eyes going wide. For one second, her brain reeled, trying to find a way out of it.

The stranger heard it too. "Don't move," he said, looking from Sinead to Peli, before moving towards the origin of the sound, towards the kid.

Sinead and Peli's eyes met.

It was now or never.

Time slowed.

Sinead launched herself at the stranger, shoulder colliding with his back, sending them both sprawling on the sand. She vaguely registered that Peli had gotten up and was sprinting toward the child.

The stranger threw her off him and got to his knees.

She kicked out and caught him in the side, pushing him back to the ground. Sand slid under her hands and knees as she crawled towards the blaster he'd dropped.

A hand closed around her ankle and she looked back.

"You _bitch!_"

Sinead threw herself back, fingertips brushing the blaster.

The stranger grabbed her other leg and pinned her down, pulling her away from the weapon.

She gasped sharply, her mouth and nose filling with sand. Grabbling around for something, anything, she flung a handful of sand into his face, making him loosen his grip enough so she could roll around.

He threw himself on top of her, bearing down with all his weight. He smelled like sweat and the desert.

A growl tore from her throat, vision flashing red. She struck out with her hand, and it connected with his face with a loud thump.

She fought to her feet and staggered toward the blaster. Her hand closed around it, and she looked up.

The last thing she saw was a wrench swinging for her head.

… … … … …

The first thought that came to Sinead's head when she came to, was that she'd rather still be unconscious.

Her mouth tasted like blood and sand. It felt like her brain had expanded while she was out cold, pressing on her eyes and trickling out of her ears, pain emanating from the side of her head in waves.

First thing first, she had to find out where she was, preferably without opening her eyes in case her brain really did leak out.

She was lying on something hard and cold, and she tried feeling around with her hands only to discover that they had been bound in front of her. She choked back a panicked sound. This wasn't the same as the Trandoshian. At least here she'd probably end up dying instead of taken captive.

Taking a chance, she opened her eyes and they nearly rolled back into her head as pain shot through her head.

It was still dark, soft moonlight streamed through the open ramp. An outline of the stranger paced around in front of the ship. He stopped when he saw her moving. "You're not dead." He came up the ramp to peer down at her.

She opened her mouth to say something snippy, but her brain refused to cooperate, the only clear though she seemed able to produce was that she had to get out of there.

"Nng," she managed.

He went back to pacing in front of the ship.

Sinead took a deep breath and tried to sit up, only making it a couple of centimeters before falling back on the hard metal. It felt like her head was exploding. She took a deep breath.

"Didn't find the kid?" Her words slurred, she could barely get them out.

"Shut up."

Closing her eyes, she willed the world to stop turning nauseatingly. It felt like the floor was rolling underneath her.

She didn't know how long she lay on the cold floor before the stranger grabbed her arm, pulling her to her feet.

"Don't say a word," he said putting his blaster to her temple, "or I'll fry your brain."

Even if she wanted to, opening her mouth would undoubtedly end up with her being sick.

Sinead watched as the Mandalorian stepped out into the moonlight, his blaster raised. He scanned the surroundings as he carefully made his way towards the ship, walking quietly over the sand.

The stranger's grip on her arm tightened as he pushed her towards the ramp. "Took you long enough, Mando. Was starting to think the Tusken Raider's got you."

The Mandalorian stopped in his tracks, his blaster raised.

The stranger was still pushing her down the ramp. The closer they got, the more his grip tightened, and Sinead felt his quick breaths on the back of her head. He was nervous or scared.

"Drop your blaster and raise 'em."

Mando looked at Sinead, whose head felt like it was splitting in two. Surprisingly, he let his blaster thump to the ground and put his hands behind his head.

"Where is the child?" Mando's voice shook with oppressed rage.

"Aw, don't you worry, he's fine, and he'll stay that way if you do what I say." Sinead could hear the smug grin. "Partner."

She tried signaling Mando, to show him that the child was gone, but there was little she could do except blink furiously and mouth the word 'no' over and over.

"You're a Guild traitor, Mando. Fennec was right. Bringing you in won't just make me a member of the Guild, it'll make me legendary."

The stranger let her go long enough to throw a pair of blinders, which landed in the sand in front of Mando. "Put 'em on."

Mando bent down slowly, looking directly at Sinead.

Through the fog of pain, she noticed something in his hands.

"I said-" the stranger pressed his blaster harder to her head- "put it on."

A bright light exploded from Mando's hand, filling the world with white and purple spots.

The stranger screamed and his hand fell away. Sinead flung herself to the side, landing on the hard sand.

Blasters fired, and something heavy landed on her, driving the last bit of breath from her lungs.

The world spun and she couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Her mouth filled with sand.

Someone called her name.

The weight on top of her was rolled off, and strong hands grabbed her and hoisted her to her feet like she weighed nothing. As the Mandalorian let her go the world tilted and he grabbed her before she hit the sand.

"Where is he?" His voice sounded hollow and far away. She couldn't focus.

"Sinead?" He moved closer.

"Peli has him," she croaked out. "She got away."

"Are you-"

"I'll be fine," she said automatically, even as her stomach rolled. "Just go. Find them."

"Sinead-"

She placed both hands on his chest and pushed. It was like trying to move a boulder. "Go."

After he left, she grabbed the rim of the ramp and pulled herself up, collapsing on the floor when she reached the ship. Her eyes were watering, and everything was hazy. With a grunt of effort, she sat up and leaned her head against the cool side of the ship. Her hands were still bound.

She breathed hard through her mouth, pressing her knees to her chest. Looking into the dim light from Peli's workshop hurt her eyes.

The next thing she knew, Peli's face was swimming in front of her. Sinead could just make out the deep frown.

"Chela! Are you okay?"

Chela? Who's- oh.

"Yeah," Sinead croaked out, pushing off from the wall she was slumped against. "Did the child get hurt?"

"Nah, we got away." Peli carefully prodded her head, withdrawing her hand when Sinead winced. "He got you good, huh?"

"Is fine. Didn't break the skin."

"You're gonna have a helluva bump, though." She looked down at Sinead's still bound hands. "Let's get these off ya."

Peli guided Sinead down the ramp and made her sit on a crate, while Peli cut the bindings away with a small circular saw. Sinead closed her eyes against the sparks that sprang from the metal bindings.

Not opening her eyes, she said in the approximate direction of Mando, "What happened to Shand?"

"Dead."

"Good."

The binders thunked to the sand, and Sinead rubbed her aching wrists, opening her eyes. A dark shape in Mando's arms waved at her.

Peli looked down at the stranger. "Knew I didn't like him." She poked the corpse with her foot. "I take it you didn't get paid," she said over her shoulder.

Mando wordlessly pulled out a pouch and upended it in her hands, the credits clinking as they fell.

"That cover it?"

Peli looked spellbound at the credits overflowing in her hands. "Yeah, yeah, that about covers it." She carefully put the credits away in a little pouch that swung from her belt.

"Can you travel?" Mando asked, his head turned towards the ship. It took Sinead a second before realizing he was talking to her.

"Yeah, I can. Let's get out of here."

"Oh, wait a second!" Peli hurried into her workshop and came out a few seconds later holding a small jar. "Here," she said and pressed it into Sinead's hand. "Consider this a thanks for saving my life, or at least saving me from a concussion."

Sinead peered at the jar, but even in daylight and with undamaged eyes she wouldn't be able to read what it said. "What is it?"

"T'pala paste. Got it when some Twi'leks came through some time ago. It's ain't bacta but it'll do in a pinch."

She closed her hand around the little jar. "Thank you, Peli. Really."

"Don't mention it."

Sinead gritted her teeth and got up, willing the ground to stop rolling under her feet, and walked slowly up the ramp.

"All right, pit droids!" Peli called behind them. "Let's drag this outta here!"

As the Razor Crest at long last left Tatooine, Sinead sat at the edge of her bunk bed applying the thick paste to her head. As soon as the greyish goop hit her scalp, a sort of cold numbness spread across her head. It still hurt, but her head no longer felt like it had been squished in a trash compactor. She decided against pouring it in her eyes, hoping that her eyesight would return to normal by itself.

She'd told the Mandalorian to plot a course towards Celvalara and that she would tell him all about it after she'd slept.

Sleep! She didn't remember the last time she'd been this tired.

The child sat on her lap, reaching up towards her head as she applied the paste, cooing gently as she patted his head.

"You as tired as me?" She asked him, replacing the lid on the jar and putting it away. "You've had an eventful day."

He squeaked and blinked slowly.

She placed the child beside her, letting him curl into her side. Her eyes drooped as the healing paste enveloped her head in cotton. She was out before her head hit the pillow.

**AN: Fight scenes are a new territory for me, so I'd love to hear what you guys think. Is it too short? Long? Detailed?**


	8. Rebels with a Cause

**A/N: I'm baaaack!**

**Due to recent circumstances, I've found myself with a lot of free time on my hands, so I finally managed to finish this chapter. There are a couple of … uhh … unpleasant similarities to the current state of things but that wasn't intentional at all, I started writing this early February.**

**Also, be safe out there! Thank you so much for reading, it really means a lot to me.**

Chapter 8 – Rebels with a Cause

The ship exited hyperspace with a deep boom that reverberated in Sinead's bones, her ears popping from the sudden change in pressure. Peli had done a great job patching up the ship, but she was right when she said it wouldn't keep chugging along unless it got a serious overhaul.

Straight ahead, Luria slowly turned on its axis, half-shrouded in a mist of glittering star dust, its surface a swirl of emerald green and purple that seemed to glow in the pale light from the star it orbited.

Starships hovered just out of reach of the gravitational pull of the planet, forming a grid between the Crest and the planet.

Sinead leaned forward to get a better look. "You heard anything about Luria being under a blockade?"

"No." Mando changed course to avoid detection. "Doesn't look Republic."

"Luckily we aren't going to the planet."

Giving the blockade a wide berth, it didn't take long finding the moon. One part of Celvalara was covered in a sprawling city, the other made up of deep forests and rocky terrain, bone-white cliffs peeking up through the canopy. The airspace around the moon was blessedly absent of any blockade.

As the ship closed in on the city, a hoarse voice came over the comm. "This is Calvalara tower two, state your business."

Mando flicked a row of switches. "Requesting permission to land."

"Request denied. State your business."

Sinead scoffed and crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

"I'm seeking information on a mine located on Celvalara," Mando said, his voice coming out forced.

"Why?"

"I'm looking for a human male, goes by the name of Kyen Beck. He worked in one of the mines."

Sinead leaned forward to speak softly so the comm couldn't pick it up. "You sure that's a good idea?"

Mando shrugged, not very encouraging, while the silence stretched into eternity.

The comm came back to life. "Request denied. Vacate the airspace immediately, or we'll be forced to shoot you down."

"Not a very warm welcome," Sinead muttered and absentmindedly rubbed her lower lip. "What do we do now? I doubt they'll accept another story."

Mando sighed deeply. "We can try circling come in from the other side."

"It's a pretty small moon, don't you think they have scanners out?"

"If we stay out of range, the Crest can scan the ground. Maybe we'll find the mine."

"I suppose."

Suddenly, the comm came to life and a new feminine voice, higher but not any less cutting, filled the cockpit. "Request granted. Head for landing pad 5-2-8."

Sinead knitted her brows. "You think it's a trap or just incompetent bureaucracy?"

"Guess we'll find out." Mando steered the ship toward the city, which seemed to fold out beneath them like it was carved directly into the moon. Alabaster towers shone in the dim light reflected off Luria. A nervous knot formed in the pit of Sinead's stomach as the ship touched down on the landing pad, her fingers curling around the armrests to keep from fretting.

When Sinead had woken hours after the scuffle on Tatooine she felt better than she had in a long time. Once she'd blinked away the haze of sleep, she found that the pain had dissipated, and she stretched out on the narrow bed. The child still slept soundly beside her, and she left him wrapped in a blanket.

Mando stood by the bunk, looking down at the kid.

"He's had an eventful couple of days," Sinead said as she got ready to leave, "you should just let him sleep."

Mando looked at her sharply. "Last time I left him, he nearly got hurt. I'm not going to let that happen again."

"I don't think there's any backstabbing bounty hunters here, but if it makes you feel better bring him. What do I know?" She strapped her blaster to her side, making sure her jacket covered it.

Mando sighed deeply, looking from the kid to the door before moving after Sinead, sans child. "Let's go."

The city, it turned out, wasn't as pristine as it looked from the atmosphere; once white buildings had turned grey with dirt and soot. Dark mud came up between the cobblestones.

The Mandalorian kept glancing over his shoulder as they walked away from the ship.

"He'll be fine," Sinead said, walking around an oversized land speeder parked in the middle of the walkway. "You've locked the ship, right? I doubt he knows how to bypass a magnolock."

Mando made a doubting sound and Sinead shot him a look. He's a tiny child who can't open a packet of jerky by himself, I think you might be overthinking it."

"… Maybe."

Sinead huffed out a laugh. "You agree with me? Are you feeling alright?"

She couldn't be sure, but it looked like the Mandalorian rolled his eyes under the helmet.

"Let's just get this over with."

"Right." Sinead looked around the street that seemed oddly empty, even though the sun had barely dipped behind Luria. This close to the landing zone, there should be someone around. "We can't just go around asking random people if they know anything about a possibly illegal mine. Let's find a cantina and just see what happens."

This time she was positive that the Mandalorian rolled his eyes, but he followed her down a narrow passage that led into a bigger street.

Few people passed them, skittering from door to door like they were afraid of being seen.

"You think this has something to do with the blockade?" Sinead moved closer to the Mandalorian.

"Maybe."

"Figures we'd end up in the middle of a war."

They found a cantina close to the docks, trapped between two empty buildings, the dark windows were covered and only slivers of light could be seen between the cracks, the only hint that the place was even open.

The door opened, spilling heat and light into the street. All conversation died as they stepped through the door. A handful patrons of various species sat low tables, a haze of smoke above their heads but most of the seats were empty.

Sinead felt eyes land on her before moving to the Mandalorian, whose silver armor stood out in the grubby bar. Delicate looking lanterns hung on strings filling the room with strange light.

Putting on a neutral expression Sinead moved towards the bar, the Mandalorian trailing after.

A human male stood behind the counter polishing a row of mugs that looked about at old as the bar itself, every single one chipped and dented. He was short and plump, heat making his cheeks shine in the warm light.

The stool scraped against the sawdust covered floor as Sinead took a seat at the bar, Mando hovering behind her like a brooding shadow.

The bartender put down the mug in his hands and gave her a nervous smile. "Welcome, miss," he said, his eyes wandering to Mando behind her. "W-what can I get ya?"

Sinead cocked her head slightly, trying to catch his eyes. "A glass of raava wouldn't be bad." She smiled. "We just touched down an hour or so ago. Been flying so long I nearly forgot how fresh air smells like."

The bartender found a dusty bottle and wiped it off with a nervous smile.

"Not big raava drinkers here?" Sinead tried making herself as small as possible to put him more at ease, but with the Mandalorian behind her, she could roll over on her back and it wouldn't make a difference.

"Not as such, no. We mostly drink what we make ourselves."

"Oh?" Sinead watched as he poured a glass of the amber liquid. A fruity smell mixed with the smoke. "And what's that?"

The bartender showed her an opaque bottle with a clear liquid sloshing around inside. It didn't have a label. "Shilzt. City's famous for it." His voice sounded strained.

"Interesting. I might try some later." She sipped her drink, letting the sweet liquor coat her tongue. It'd been a long time since she'd drunk anything but cheap spacer swill or stale filtered water.

The bartender resumed polishing the mugs, looking very concentrated for something that should be second nature to a guy like him.

Sinead thought for a moment, running a finger around the rim of the glass. "I'm Chela, by the way. Hi."

"Teko." The bartender- Teko glanced at Mando. "What about your fella?"

Sinead glanced over her shoulder before waving a hand through the air. "Oh, he's just the pilot. I hired him to take me to Neth since the Outer Rim is so _dangerous_." Her eyes sparkled. "Don't mind him, he's always like that."

She felt Mando's impatient stare drill into the back of her head.

Teko breathed out in relief.

"You know," Sinead said after another sip of raava, "I'm so used to seeing droids working behind the bar, it's so quaint to see a real live person.

Teko chuckled. "Oh really? Where're you from, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm from Coruscant." She beamed at him. "This is my first time in the Outer Rim, really. Everything is just so different and exotic! A friend of mine stopped by here, said I should too if I have the chance."

From behind her came an irritated sigh.

"Exotic, eh? I guess it would be to someone like you. What're you doing so far from home? Neth, you said?"

"I'm here for work." Sinead pouted and rested her chin on her palm. "My father wants to open a new trade-route, so he wants me there, of course."

"Your father's a trader?"

"Uh-huh. He's wanted to expand into the Outer Rim for_ ages,_ but it never went through." Sinead drank the last of the reeva and leaned closer. "So, I couldn't help but notice the blockade when we got here. What's all that about?"

Teko drew away, looking nervously at the door.

"C'mon," Sinead did her best to radiate innocent curiosity. "Annexing a planet isn't something that just happens, right, and I can promise you no one have heard a word about it in the Core. Please, let me have at least one interesting story to take back home."

"It's just that we're not part of the Republic, you see. Don't want no one interfering in our business.

Independent to the point of idiocy. Right.

"I won't run off to the Republic, you have my word. Please, just tell me."

Teko bit his lips, looking at the patrons who had resumed their conversation. Sighing, he leaned closer. "You keep this to yourself, okay?"

"Of course."

Teko nodded to himself and began, "this all started last-" he moved his lips silently while he thought- "it would be Festival of the Long Night in Basic. Once a year, Celvalara blocks out the sun on Luria for an entire day. We've celebrated that for close to 300 years now."

Sinead bit her tongue to stop herself from asking questions about the festival. Normally she'd love to learn about local customs like that, but she felt Mando's impatience like a burning iron prodding at her back.

Teko continued, "They don't … we don't know exactly what happened. There was an explosion at the capital and only a few people managed to escape, King Orled was one of them."

Sinead covered her mouth with her hand. "That's awful," she said, her voice coming out muffled. "How did you get away?"

"Laid low with bybbec fever, cursing the creator that I was stuck here. Changed my tune pretty quickly when word came back what happened."

"And Luria's been blockaded ever since?"

"Nobody's been in or out as far as I know, but the blockade only came up some months ago. We have families haven't seen each other in months. I'm lucky in a way, that I only have myself." He smiled sadly at the table.

"Teko, I'm so sorry." She placed her hand over his and gave it a squeeze.

"Thank you. I know there are good lads fighting to get the power returned to those who truly deserve it."

"Wow. I had no idea things like these even happened anymore." She heard the Mandalorian made a sound that suspiciously sounded like a snort behind her. "I'm sure you'll get your planet back soon."

Teko smiled at her and patted her hand atop of his. "Nice of you to say, Chela."

She pulled her hand from between his. "Thank you for the drink," she said as she got up. "But I think I have to head back to the ship. There's still a ways to Neth and if I don't make it to this deal my father will have my hide."

"Can't have that," Teko said with a chuckle.

Sinead left some money on the bar; she was nearly at the door before she hurried back. "Oh, I almost forgot! The friend I mentioned, who told me it was worth it to stop here. He said he found some old caves, mines or something, out on the other side of the moon. You know where I can find them?"

Teko gave her a puzzled look. "Why do you want to go looking around abandoned mines?"

"We don't have anything like that at home. I just want to take a quick peek, that's all."

"Well, okay," Teko said, still looking unsure about the whole thing. "If you go to the other side, you can't really miss them. There must be about two hundred or so. Back when they were in use, they had a hell of a time keeping from digging into each other's tunnels you see."

"What were they mining?"

"You see the stone this whole city is build out of? That all came from the mine, way way before my time. They had to stop, on account of the moon getting too unstable, was about to collapse in on itself."

"So no one has been in them since then? Before your time."

"No one except your friend and the occasional daredevil who gets lost in shafts and have to be found again. Don't get too near them, okay? They're not exactly safe if you don't know what you're doing."

Sinead almost let her careful mask slip between her fingers. No one had been there in decades?

She forced out a smile. "I won't, I promise. Goodbye!"

The night air felt like needles after being inside the stuffy cantina for so long. Sinead took deep breaths, letting the Chela facade slip away.

"That was a waste of time," Mando said as soon as the door closed behind them.

"What are you talking about? Now we know why the planet's under a blockade."

"You could've just asked him directly, instead of taking an unnecessary risk pretending to be a wide-eyed idiot from the Core. That makes you a mark."

Sinead regarded him with a cool look. "You don't have a very high regard of your fellow sentients, do you?"

"And why do you?"

"Who says I do? I just tricked a kind man into giving me information he didn't wanna part with, by pretending to be someone I'm not."

"Information that's not relevant."

"I don't know about you, but I like knowing if I'm walking into a civil war or not. If I hadn't done that little song and dance, he would've clammed up and we'd never learn anything. Sometimes you gotta lay down some groundwork."

The Mandalorian didn't look convinced.

"Look," Sinead said, pinching the bridge of her nose, "he was just some guy who wanted someone to talk to, after he made sure we weren't going to kill him. You'd be surprised how much you can learn when you stop skulking around in the shadows."

Mando heaved a deep sigh. "Let's just get back to the ship. We'll rest, and head for the mines later."

Sinead bit her lip so hard she nearly broke the skin. She didn't want to rest, she wanted to find Kyen, even if she had to trawl through a labyrinth of mineshafts to do it.

"Alright."

They hadn't gone more than a block before the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

"Mando-"

"I know. We're being followed."

A shadow trailed after them, not quite far enough back to seem inconspicuous. On the rooftops more silhouettes appeared out of the darkness.

Sinead's hand closed around her blaster.

They took a right turn, leading the unwelcome entourage away from the ship, and the child, and further into the city. Few sentients hurried past them, casting one frightful look at their tail before sprinting down the nearest alley.

The night air was cold, but Sinead felt impossibly warm under her clothes. The only sound was her and the Mandalorian's footsteps that echoed between the grey walls. Her skin prickled and she chanced a quick glance over her shoulder.

A Sullustan stepped out from around a corner and put his hands up, palms first. His big eyes glinted in the darkness.

"Wait," he squeaked, hurriedly as Mando pulled his blaster on him.

"What do you want?" The Mandalorian said, his voice dangerously low.

Sinead had pulled her own blaster, keeping an eye on two Twi'leks that snuck up behind them.

The Sullustan winced at his tone. "I-I, I mean, we-" he nervously licked his thin lips- "heard that you're looking for one of the old mines." His jowels shook with every word.

"And I guess you're just going to help us out of the kindness of your heart?" Sinead said.

"N-no?" The Sullustan cleared his voice. "I mean, I've been sent here to formally request you to lend your assistance."

"And who exactly want our assistance?" The Mandalorian said.

"I can't tell you that, at this very moment. If you comply, then-"

"I will not _comply _with anything until you tell me who sent you."

There was a sound to their left, and Sinead and Mando swung around, blasters at the ready.

A terrified human let out a strangled scream and slammed the window they had just opened.

Sinead's heart was still hammering, when the Sullustan took a tiny step forward, raising his hands even higher as the Mandalorian pointed his blaster back at him.

"Look," he said, his squeaky voice getting even squeakier, "I … we don't want any trouble here, alright? Please just come with us and hear us out."

Mando glanced at Sinead, who moved closer.

"They might know where the mine is, and we don't have to comb through the entire moon to find it."

"It's a trap, Sinead."

"I don't think so. Why would they send the least intimidating man possible?" She looked at the Sullustan, who was wiping sweat from his brow.

"To trick us."

"Or maybe they actually need our help."

Mando huffed and looked at the Sullustan. "You-" he gestured with the blaster- "can take us to whoever you work for. They stay here."

One of the Twi'leks started to say something and was cut off by the Sullustan's desperate flailing.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, they …" he stammered off into nothingness as the Mandalorian's entire body glowered at him. "R-right, right. They won't follow us. Come this way."

The Sullustan led them through a small opening between two tall buildings and scurried across a wider road, just as empty as the rest of the city.

They didn't have to go far. An old military transporter was parked under the shadow of a nearby building, looking like it had survived at least three wars and a salvage yard.

"You didn't say anything about taking a transport," Mando said.

"It's not far, I promise."

Mando made a noise at the back of his throat.

"It's alright," Sinead said, giving him a look.

The ride, while blessedly short, was spent in tense silence. The city fell away abruptly, going from white buildings to tall trees, the thick canopy blocking out most of the light from Luria's other moon. As they left the city the roads turned narrow and uneven until it was nothing but two tire tracks that cut through the forest.

The terrain had been steadily climbing when the transporter came to a stop and Sinead and Mando got out. Directly in front of them a low mountain rose from the ground, pale stone seeming luminescent in the twilight. The mountain side was pocketed, like a giant had plucked whole boulders from the rocky walls.

At the foot of the mountain, trees had been cut down to make room for a forward base of sorts. Metal plates had been put down to make the surface more even and grass sprouted up between the cracks.

A handful of gunships and starfighters stood in a hastily erected docking bay. Compared to the city this place was bustling with life, people milling to and from the ships and a couple of tents that stood in the shadow of the mountain.

A group of various aliens watched them as they passed by, sharing a long pipe between them.

A blast door had been installed into the side of the mountain, a small keypad beside it. More noticeable though were two guards flanking the door, holding blasters loosely at their side.

The taller of the guards held up a hand as they came closer. "Halt. No weapons beyond this point." He eyed the walking armory that was the Mandalorian.

"Not gonna happen," Mando said.

The other guard tsked, making Sinead grit her teeth. "We have orders," he said, his voice drawling out the last word. "No blasters beyond this point."

Mando shifted slightly, moving his weight to the balls of his feet, ready to spring into action. "No."

The guards gripped their weapons tighter. "Won't ask again," the first guard spat.

Sinead's eyes went from Mando to the guards, heart hammering in her chest.

"W-wait," the Sullustan squeaked out. "I-I'm sure we can find a compromise."

"Either he drops his weapons, or we drop him," the guard barked.

"You're welcome to try."

Suddenly, the blast doors opened releasing a gust of hot air. The already tense guards jumped.

A tall and reedy human man stood in the doorway, wearing a suit that looked like it cost more than all the starfighters in the hangar combined. His long face was framed by thick dark hair.

"Ah!" He clasped his hands together at the sight of them. "Sedabb! I see you've found our prospective associates. Wonderful."

The Sullustan – presumably Sedabb – opened his mouth to reply, but the man continued, "I am Hidal Sul-Bal, governor- I mean former governor of Luria. I am glad Sedabb managed to find you."

A politician. Great.

He finally noticed the tense situation. "Oh, for creators' sake, lower your weapons, please. There's no need for violence, I am sure we can come to some kind of understanding."

"T-they-" Sedabb began.

"Got orders to take their weapons. Straight from Gatt," the tallest guard growled, his eyes trained on Mando.

"Well, that is no way to treat our guests. I order you to stand down and let them pass."

"But Gatt said-"

"I will take it from here, thank you." Sul-Bal smiled politely at the guards, who slowly and begrudgingly stepped back.

"Excellent." He clapped again. "Follow me, please. Oh-" he looked at Mando- "it would be best if you keep your blaster holstered while we are inside. Thank you very much."

Sul-Bal led them through the doors. Sinead looked over her shoulder to see Sedabb stand alone in the doorway, wiping sweat from his brow.

They were led through a passage which got narrower the further into the mountain they went. Floodlights lit the roughly hewn walls and thick cables ran along the uneven floor, branching off when they came to a crossing passage.

Periodically, hot blasts of air came from the depth of the mine, smelling of dry rot and sulfur. Sinead eyes stung as a particularly violent gust of wind grabbed at her braid.

"Ah, yes, one of the unfortunate drawbacks with our current seat of command; the wind gets heated in the core, you see, and these tunnels acts as a sort of vent. Isn't it marvelous? Although, the heat does leave one feeling rather dried out. Here we are."

Sul-Bal stopped in front of a low door set deep in the wall, deep furrows in the durasteel like someone had tried to force it open.

The politician knocked with unnecessary flourish, and a voice on the other side told them to come in.

"After you," Mando said, as Sul-Bal opened the door and gestured for them to go inside. The man blinked nonplussed before recovering with a polite smile and ducking through the door.

Sinead and Mando followed him and found themselves in a small office made even smaller due to the amount of stuff that had been crammed in there. Most of the floor was occupied by a holo-table displaying a slowly revolving Luria. A desk overflowing with files and datapads had been showed into the corner, and the room smelled faintly of bad caf and sulfur.

A human woman sat behind the desk, her bright blue eyes fixed firmly on a datapad, not looking up when they entered. Red hair was scraped into a bun at the back of her neck and a long scar cut through her face from left to right, making her mouth droop into an eternal scowl.

"You found them." Her voice was hoarse and low, and Sinead immediately recognized her from the comm. Finally, she threw the datapad on the table and looked from Sinead to Mando, the first person who didn't seem the least intimidated by the Mandalorian.

"I did, yes," Sul-Bal said, showing Sinead and Mando to two rickety chairs with great ceremony, his face falling when neither took a seat.

"He neglected to tell us exactly why we needed to be found," Sinead said.

The woman turned her icy eyes on Sinead. "I don't know if you've noticed, but this isn't exactly an above-ground operation we're running here. A little discretion goes a long way."

Sinead gave her a wry smile. "Since we're below ground now, why don't you tell us who you are?"

"Nothing would bring me more pleasure," she sneered. "I'm Commander Jacin Gatt of the Royal Guard. I see my men didn't relieve you of your weapons." She huffed sharply. "That is Hidal Sul-Bal-"

"Oh, we're already acquainted."

"Fantastic." Gatt scowled at him. When he didn't turn tail and run, she turned her eyes back to Sinead and Mando. "What you see here is the last of the Lurian military still loyal to the rightful ruler of Luria."

"Very impressive," Sinead said, glancing meaningfully around the room. Here, protected from the hot winds, moss grew in the cracks of the stone walls.

Gatt ignored her. "Sources tell me you've already know what happened, so I'll skip the history lesson."

"We only know about the explosion and blockade," Sinead said.

"Right." Gatt pinched the bridge of her nose. "Right. The explosion. All you really need to know is that Luria has been … usurped," her voice dripped with venom. "They call themselves the New Moon collective, but I'm more partial to call them treasonous scum myself. They infiltrated the court until their rot was so entrenched that rooting them out became impossible. They closed the planet down, allowing no communication."

"The blockade's only been there a couple of months," Mando said.

Sul-Bal cleared his throat. Sinead had almost forgotten he was there. "From what little information we've been able to gather, they've held the general populace in control by means of martial law-"

"Until we sent a small strike force planet-side and things went tits up. The barricade went up and since then our sparse streams of information have all dried up."

"It seems that after our little … excursion … the Collective has tightened their hold even more."

Gatt snarled. "People getting executed for the mere suspicion of working with rebel forces."

"I'm very sorry to hear that but what has that to do with us?" Sinead asked.

Gatt stared unblinking at her. "I have a … mutually beneficial proposition for you. In three-point five standard hours, one of the blockade ships will experience a power outage, temporarily disabling the scanners long enough for a single ship to sneak past. I want you to take a small crew of my men planet-side and get back out before the ship goes online."

"Why us?" the Mandalorian said.

"Plausible deniability. This is strictly off the book. King Orleg wants to resolve this peacefully but I know there are no negotiating with terrorists. Either we win or Luria is lost forever."

Sinead sat down in one of the chairs. "And what do we get in return?"

"Full access to all information found in the mine. I heard you over the comm system. You're looking for someone. Are they from Celvalara?" Gatt said.

Sinead bit the inside of her cheek. "No."

Gatt gave her a second before rolling her eyes. "Suit yourself."

"Of course, in the unlikely event of you being captured once you reach Luria, you've never even stepped foot on Celvalara," Sul-Bal said. "We've doctored the docking manifest. Officially, you've never been here."

" Is that why you hide out here? Because your king doesn't want you to interfere?" Sinead said.

"He doesn't want us to fight for our freedom. King Orleg is a great man, but he's always had his blind spots."

"These mines have proved to be excellently suited for our particular needs."

Gatt gestured to the rocks above them. "The stones block all radio frequencies, which of course means that our comms doesn't work either but that's a small price to pay for safety. If the collective does manage to find us, my men has these tunnels memorized. We know every single cave-in, dead-end, and pitfall this side of Celvalara."

Mando tilted his head. "And you're sure the ship'll be out?"

Gatt's lips were a thin white line. "I don't expect full transparency from you as long as you don't expect it from me."

"You're asking us to put a lot of faith in you," said Sinead.

"If the information you're looking for is as valuable to you as I think it is, I don't think you have any choice."

Mando sighed sharply.

"Right. We need a minute to talk it over." Sinead folded her hands across her lap.

Gatt folded her arms across her chest. "This offer has a time limit. When the ship is back online, no one's leaving Luria. Don't think just because you wait out the clock you can nab the data and fly off. It's this or nothing."

"You're asking us to risk our lives for your cause, I think that warrants a discussion."

Sul-Bal smiled nervously. "Yes, yes, you are absolutely right. Gatt, we should leave them to it."

Gatt grunted and got up from her chair. She snatched the datapad from the table and stalked past them.

When the door closed behind Sul-Bal, Sinead looked at Mando. "This might be our only way of getting access to the records."

"This isn't our fight."

"I don't care whose fight it is. I just want to get my hands on those records and this seems to be the fastest way. Unless you want to shoot your way out of here, we're out of options." She hadn't missed the way Gatt made sure they were aware that her men knew the tunnels inside out.

Mando rolled his shoulders, his fists clenching at his side. "Fine. We go in and out, nothing more."

Sinead lifted her hands palms out. "Hey, I don't want to be a part of this either. In and out. Nothing more."


	9. In

Chapter 9 - In

Sinead sat on a broken down astromech at the edge of the base, watching rebels scurry around in the dim light. Mando had gone to retrieve the ship, and Gatt had left Sinead with two guards, ostensibly there to protect her, but more likely there to keep her from poking her nose into things that didn't concern her. The guards stood back, close enough to keep an eye on her but far enough away that she had the illusion of privacy.

A dug knuckled past her, giving her a distrustful look. He carried a cracked datapad in one of his feet.

She was watching a mouse droid scurry between the ships when a voice made her sit up. It stood out of the general din of the base, sounding too high and youthful to belong to any of the rebels.

"You never let me do _anything!_"

Sinead looked around as casually as she could. Half hidden behind a starfighter, Gatt and a human girl who couldn't be more than 14 faced each other.

"Mir ..." Gatt said.

"I could help, you know, if you didn't keep me locked up here."

Gatt pinched the bridge of her nose. "Damn right I keep you locked up. If I didn't, you'd be dead five times over."

"You don't know that." Mir tossed her head.

"I do know that, Mir, I've been fighting since before you were a glint in your mother's eyes."

"I can-"

Gatt jabbed a finger at her. "You can do_ nothing_, except compromising everything we've worked on. I don't expect you to understand, but as long as you're in my care, you're to sit your ass down and stay out of trouble."

Mir balled her hands and stomped on the ground. "This isn't fair."

Gatt drew herself into her full height, the fire in her eyes a mirror of the girl's. "Life isn't fair. Go help Bast if you're so desperate to help." She pushed Mir to the side and stomped away, leaving the girl to watch after her, her small body shaking with anger.

Mir turned her head and locked eyes with Sinead. Her face contorted and she skulked off, disappearing into the mine. The guards let her pass without a word.

That was odd. A rebel base wasn't usually the best place for a young girl, even one who seemed as keen as Mir to join the fight. Sinead considered following her, when a small dot on the horizon appeared, growing larger and larger until she saw it was the Razor Crest making for the landing platform.

Wind whipped her hair around as the ship touched down, the old landing gear creaking from the weight. The Crest looked right at home between the old freighters and starfighters that looked like they had been in one dogfight too many.

The Mandalorian appeared as the ramp came down, looking cautiously at the rebels milling about.

Sinead got up from her seat and approached him, her minders trailing after. "How was everything back there?"

"Fine," he said in his usual brusque fashion. "You sure about this?" He eyed her guardians.

"We have another choice?"

Mando sighed, which had to be answer enough, as Gatt approached them with a small band of rebels trailing behind. She lifted an eyebrow as she gave the ship a quick onceover. "You're all set?" She didn't wait for an answer, instead thrusting a datacard at Sinead, who caught it just before it fell to the ground. "Coordinates are on there. You only have so long to get through the blockade and back out before you miss your window, and then you're stuck, you got that?" She looked impatiently from Sinead to Mando.

"Got it."

"We don't know the situation on Luria, except that it's bad. Hopefully a ground-team'll meet you at the rendezvous."

"I usually like a little more certainty when risking my life," Sinead said.

"And I like not having to sneak onto my own damn planet, but it turns out that life isn't fair."

"You're asking us to risk our lives for a hope."

"Only thing we have in abundance. If you don't like it, you can get the hell off my moon." Gatt clearly hadn't shaken off the effects of the argument.

Sinead bared her teeth in a smile. "If only wars could be won on hope."

"No, we need soldiers for that, ones who follows orders."

"Yes, sir."

Gatt didn't seem to appreciate Sinead's try at deference. "Right. This isn't so complicated I need to go over it again, do I? Once you get back, I'm sure Sul-Bal will show you whatever it is you came here to find."

Five rebels piled into the Crest, a quiet lot all dressed in dark, inconspicuous clothes and with the same sort of grim determination in their eyes. A short, stout human called Tanram was the only one who introduced himself.

Sinead left the rebels in the main room huddled together in a tight group, muttering amongst themselves and shooting furtive glances at Sinead like she was about to pounce.

She stood behind Mando as the ship left Celvalara's atmosphere.

"He's still sleeping," Sinead said, looking at the child still swaddled in a blanket. Looking closely, she could see his small chest rise and fall.

"This has happened before I … I think."

"Him sleeping for more than a day?"

"It was after … it doesn't matter. He'll wake up eventually."

"If you say so."

The ship shook as they left Celvalara's atmosphere.

Sinead sat down in the only unoccupied chair. "You don't think we should've left him back at the base?"

"Hm. I don't trust them."

"Neither do I, but I'm sure it's safer than an occupied planet. Gatt seems like someone who's _great _with kids."

"I thought he'd be safe on Tatooine and look what happened." He glanced at her. "How's your head?"

Her head? Oh, right.

"It's fine." She touched the spot where just ten hours prior she'd had a bump the size of a kaadu egg, which had vanished completely. "That stuff Peli gave me must've been stronger than I thought."

The Mandalorian hummed in response and fell quiet.

The navicomputer beeped once to let them know it had finished plotting in the route, and the ship hummed as it turned due north- insofar that there was such a thing as due north in outer space.

The blockade stretched planet wide, blinking in the murky darkness like dying stars. Many of the ships making up the blockade hadn't been made for that purpose, most of them looked like old freighters and rusty spaceliners. Underneath, Luria's surface swirled and twisted like a sea in stormy weather.

As they neared the spot, Mando slowed the ship to a crawl.

There was a clanging as Tanram up the ladder. "How's everything up here?" His voice was scratchy, like he'd spent all day shouting. He stood behind Mando, watching the slowly rotating planet beneath. The glow from Luria bathed the cockpit in a soft, pink light.

"We're waiting for the signal," Mando said.

Tanram sneered. "Fucking travesty we have to sneak into our own home like thieves."

Sinead shrugged. "Here's to hoping you won't have to do that for long."

Tanram harrumphed as a way of answer. He scratched his cheek, looking around the cockpit, eyes falling on the sleeping kid. "You have a child with you?"

"He came with the ship," Sinead said, fighting the urge to pull the child into her lap.

"Right ..." he turned back to look at Luria. "Better hope it doesn't get us killed."

"Don't worry, I won't let him hurt you."

Tanram gave her a sour look.

"What's the plan once we land?" Mando said, stopping the argument before it had time to start.

"We get down, there should be a ground team waiting for us."

"Again, with the qualifiers," Sinead said.

"Should is a helluva lot better than 'no chance in hell'." Tanram crossed his arms across his chest.

"Barely. 'No chance in hell' also means don't get your hope up."

Mando shushed them, gesturing to the blockade below them. "Look."

Beneath them, a large freighter ship blinked three time before going completely dark. Nobody moved.

"That's it?" Sinead asked, leaning forward to get a better look. "And we're sure it won't suddenly come on-line and blast us to stardust, right?"

"Only one way to find out."

The Razor Crest came to life with a now pleasantly familiar roar and glided slowly towards Luria.

"Don't get too close to the ship," Tanram whispered. "This boat ain't invisible."

The Mandalorian's shoulders tense in irritation, but he remained silent.

The planet swelled beneath them, pink and green-hued lights dancing in the cockpit, seeming impossibly large as it filled the windscreen.

"Ten seconds 'till we reach," Mando said.

In the distance the dark ship hung lifeless in the air, and Sinead caught herself holding in her breath as they breached the barricade, her ears prickling for any sound of their detection.

They passed the darkened ship in tense silence.

"Go tell the others to get ready," Mando said, his voice terse. "Don't wanna be there longer than necessary.

Tanram drew in a sharp breath, clearly not happy about taking orders from someone else, even if that someone was the owner of the ship, but after a second, he deflated and disappeared down the ladder.

"I wish they could all be this easy," Sinead said, sitting down at last.

"You think this was easy?"

"Relatively easy." Sinead looked at the still sleeping kid. "Nobody has shot at us. Yet."

"Give it time."

Sinead huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, you're right. Can't wait to see in what new and inventive way this one explodes in our faces."

When the Razor Crest broke through the clouds, Sinead couldn't help but gasp at the sight that unfolded underneath them; rolling grasslands broken up by dense forests stretched as far as the eye could see, deep purple and emerald green seemed to glow in the darkness. A solitary mountain broke through the earth, shining white in the starlight.

"You've ever done something like this before?"

Sinead tore her gaze away from the wonder outside. "Smuggled a band of rebels through a blockade to a planet in full lockdown? Can't say that I have."

"I mean this. The civil war."

"I'd say we're more civil war adjacent." She could_ feel_ Mando roll his eyes under his helmet. "No, I haven't. I've always done my best to stay out of … circumstances like these." Normally, she would ask him what he did before he was a bounty hunter, but she had a feeling he wouldn't answer.

After skirting around a small settlement barely big enough to notice, they found the rendezvous, a small spot at the base of the mountain. Big boulders had been rolled away, making a small level spot in a sea of rocks.

The Crest touched down, narrowly missing being smashed to bits against the sheer rock walls.

As she got up to leave, Sinead looked down at the still sleeping kid, worry gnawing at her stomach. She touched the edge of the blanket wrapped around him and then left to join the rebels.

The ramp was down when she got off the ladder, soft starlight spilling from the opening. Outside, a rebel had fallen to her knees in the grass, whispering something in twi'leki that Sinead didn't understand, and it dawned on her that this was the first time they'd seen their home in a long time.

The four remaining rebels stood in a tight knot, their conversation dying out when Sinead and Mando descended on the ramp.

"You said someone'd be here," Mando said, looking directly at Tanram.

"Clearly there isn't," the rebel said between clenched teeth, his dark eyes scanning the shadows between the boulders.

The twi'lek got up from the ground and brushed off her knees. "Erno, you told me about an old cache at the foot of the Barrow-" she nodded towards the mountain- "Maybe they've left the package there."

A human rebel, this one with grey wiry hair spilling from under his cap, rubbed his lower lip. "Hasn't been used since I was a lad."

"C'mon, Tan," another rebel grabbed Tanram's shoulder, "they've been compromised. We gotta get out of here before the blockade closes."

"We don't know that!" Said the Twi'lek.

"Really, Suri, you really wanna bet your life on that? Our lives?" The rebel turned to the twi'lek, his posture rigid.

Tanram's lips moved silently, his unfocused eyes staring at the mountain. "We've come to far to turn back now. We'll find the cache and if it's empty then we'll take it from there." He turned to Sinead and Mando. "Stay here until we come back."

"That wasn't part of the plan," Mando said.

"Plan's changed. If you leave now, without what we came here to get, you won't get within orbit of Celvalara. Got it?"

"We won't be stuck here."

Tanram sighed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "We'll be back before that happens."

"You better make sure of that."

Once the last rebel disappeared between the trees, Sinead let out a deep sigh. "Maybe this really was a bad idea."

"A little late for that don't you think?" Mando said, his shoulders tensing in irritation.

"Yeah," Sinead stretched and looked around the clearing. The white rocks reflected the starlight strangely, making it look like they were glowing from within. Scree shifted under her feet as she walked to the nearest boulder and sat down, closing her eyes. The rock felt strangely warm against her back.

Wind whistled between the cliffs, carrying with it the smell of clean and cold air.

The Mandalorian cleared his throat. Sinead waited for him to speak but when he didn't, she snuck a glance at him through her lashes? He was looking at her, or at least in her direction.

"I already told you I'm fine."

He looked away sharply, shifting his weight from side to side. "I didn't ..." he looked at Celvalara in the distance. "I haven't thanked you for what you did. Back there. You- uh, you didn't have to risk your life like that."

"I'm sure everyone would've done the same." Images of people she'd met that most definitely wouldn't, flashed through her mind. "At least almost everyone."

"Still ... thank you."

Somewhere amidst the cliffs, there was a sharp cry from a bird.

Sinead tugged her legs to her chest. "It's not the first time I've been held at blasterpoint and it probably won't be the last. Although I usually know what it's about." She let the words hang in the air.

"It's not that simple."

"I think it is. The Guild and I aren't exactly on the best of terms. You don't have to worry I'll run off when your back is turned."

"How'd you manage to piss off the Guild?"

Sinead opened her eyes fully and gave him a sardonic grin. "Let's make a deal; you tell me how you found the child, and I'll tell you why I'm not rotting in some palace on Sriluur."

Mando fiddled with his gauntlet while Sinead watched him patiently. He cleared his throat and started: "An Imperial holdout based out of Navarro hired me to find and retrieve an asset." He looked up at the cockpit where the child slept. "They wanted him dead or alive, would pay a lot to make sure that happened."

A cold hard knot of worry formed in the pit of her stomach at the thought of the kid in the hands of people like that. Leave it to the Empire to destroy someone so innocent and defenseless.

"You didn't leave him," she said softly.

"No."

"So that's why you don't know his name. Why didn't you tell me this before? I hate the Empire even more than I hate the Guild, and it would've been nice to know you have a bullseye on your back."

He looked at her sharply. "You're right, _Chela._"

She rolled her eyes, trying to rid herself of the anxious feeling. "I never lied to you and I've trusted you to find my husband. That's gotta count for something."

He leaned against the ship, not looking at her. "Yeah."

The conversation tapered off, and Sinead closer her eyes again. She didn't like waiting around on the best of days, and here it felt like they'd ended up in a strange pocket of space where every minute felt like an hour.

"You never answered my question."

"Question?"

"When you dealt with the Guild."

"Oh." Sinead grabbed a handful og pebbles and watched them fall from her palm. "I was … found out, let's say, after I first escaped. A Trandoshan hunted me down on Toola, dragged me back to Sriluur."

"You remember his name?"

Sinead snorted. "I didn't really think to ask. Anyway, both the Hutts and the Empire were chomping at the bit to get a hold of me, so I guess I never stood a chance."

Mando was quiet for a bit. "You managed to get away again."

"Rebels attacked the Hutts right after the Trandoshan handed me over. Stroke of luck, really, otherwise I would be rotting in a shallow grave somewhere on Sriluur. I'm pretty sure they think I died in the attack, since I haven't seen any bounty hunters for a while- except for you."

"Whatever's left of the Empire has other things to think about."

"Like someone absconding with their bounty." Sinead grinned at him.

"Hm."

She didn't know how long they sat in silence. A small bird landed on a boulder nearby, trilling a complicated song. Maybe the sun was about to rise.

There was a bang from behind the ship. Sinead got to her feet and grabbed her blaster in one fluid motion. "What-"

Mando held out a hand, stopping her in her tracks. He drew his own blaster and crept around the ship surprisingly silent for someone clad head to toe in metal armor.

A panel from the ship lay in the pebbles and someone was crawling out of the opening it left, wiggling through the wires like a worm. They stared as she made it out, landing on the ground with a loud thud.

Mir straightened up, pulling off an old breath mask and letting it thump to the ground. Her eyes widened when she saw Sinead and Mando stare at her.

Mando was the first to get his bearings. "Who are you?"

Mir reached behind and pulled a blaster. In a split second, Mando snatched it out of her hands.

"Hey!"

It seemed like everything suddenly went into double speed. Sinead stepped forwards. "What are you doing here?" She fought to keep her voice under control.

"None of your business," Mir snapped, staring balefully at the Mandalorian.

"You-" Mando stopped, breathing hard through his nose. "You've made it our business. Who. Are you?"

Sinead glanced at Mando while Mir flinched. "Her name is Mir, she-"

"Mirian," she interrupted. "My name is Mirian."

It took all Sinead's willpower not to roll her eyes at the girl. "I saw Mirian back at the base, right after Gatt told her to stay put."

Mirian's eyes widened for a moment. "She can't tell me what to do."

"She's the commander, telling people what to do is her job."

The girl bit her lower lip, eyes straying to the nearest path away from the clearing.

"Don't even think about it," Mando growled, making her eyes swivel back to him.

"Did you really hide away in the ship? You could've suffocated!" The mask looked old enough to be from the Old Republic, cracked and leaking.

"So what if I did? I can take care of myself."

Sinead ground her teeth hard enough to hear them creak, angry heat making her cheeks flush.

Mando spoke through clenched teeth. "Get in the ship."

"No."

He took a short step forward. "Get. In. The. Ship. And stay there."

For one moment it looked like she was about to run, eyes flittering around for a way out, her small mouth a thin white line.

Mando took a step forward and Mirian stumbled back, her eyes flickering to the blaster still in Mando's hand.

Sinead stepped forward, waving at Mando to stay back. "You want to be a part of this, right? All this proves is that you can't be trusted following simple orders-"

"Jacin won't let me _do_ anything," Mirian's voice was a loud whine.

"And you've made sure she probably never will," Sinead snapped.

"That's not fair!"

"Fair's a weather condition. Get used to it."

Sinead paused, surprised at what came out of her mouth; it was an old Corellian saying her mother had been particularly fond of spouting whenever Sinead was being too dramatic. She'd always hated it and it didn't look like Mirian found any value in it either.

"You can't make me go back."

"Don't be so sure about that," Mando growled.

"Ship," Sinead said, hearing her mother's voice echo back. "Now."

Mirian bared her teeth, her eyes filled with pure and unadulterated fury, but she made the smart choice and stomped toward the ship, her heavy boots echoing on the metal ramp.

"What a brat," Sinead mumbled as she disappeared inside. "I'll go with her, make sure she doesn't steal the ship," Sinead said.

Mando made a sound at the back of his throat, cocking his head at the panel lying on the ground. "I'll … try to fix this. There are some bindings in the weapons locker."

"I'm not going to tie her up, Mando. I got this."

"If the other's aren't back soon-"

"We leave, yeah." Sinead wasn't keen on being stuck on Luria in general but with the addition of the combative young girl, she'd rather risk getting blown to pieces by the blockade.

Mirian was nosing around the makeshift galley that Mando had somehow jury-rigged into the side of the ship. Sinead stood in the opening and cleared her throat, making Mirian whirl around. "This place is a dump."

Sinead took a deep breath, stamping down on the anger that threatened to bubble over again. "Believe it or not, you're not the first one to say that. Lucky for you, you're not gonna be here very long."

"Why do you even care about holding me here? Nobody saw me hide away, if you just-"

"I'm sure once they find out you're gone, they're gonna put two and two together and Gatt would kill me as soon as she laid eyes on me." At the sound of the Commander's name, Mirian looked away sharply. "I assume she's your …?"

"Aunt."

"Ah."

"Just because we're _family-_" she spat the word like it tasted foul- "she thinks she can tell me what to do."

"That's generally what family do." Sinead sat on an overturned ammo crate, twisting a string between her fingers. "Where are your parents?"

Mirian's face froze and she got a blank look in her eyes. "Dead."

"Sorry."

"They died as heroes-" Mirian stalked down the length of the ship- "protecting this planet, and Jacin wants to hide me away underground."

"Sounds reasonable."

Mirian whirled around. "Shows what you know."

Shrugging, Sinead continued playing with the string. "I know that you stowed away on a dangerous mission, risking suffocating _in space." _She sent Mirian a look. "What were your plan once you got down here? Join up with the others and hope they wouldn't do a headcount?"

Mirian's silence was answer enough.

A tense silence fell, only broken by Mirian's heavy footsteps whenever she got too bored of standing in one place.

From above, there came a sound of something hitting the floor, and Sinead was at the ladder before Mirian had time to react. "Don't move," she told the girl.

The child stood in the middle of the cockpit, looking around with sleep heavy eyes and a lost expression. His left ear was bent like he'd slept on it.

"Hey, you," Sinead said as she scooped him up in her arms. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

The kid made a warbling sound, pressing his head to her shoulder.

Down in the main room Mirian had of course moved to the opposite side of the ship, rooting through a compartment that had been left ajar. She'd found a hydro-spanner, which she dropped as soon as Sinead's feet hit the floor.

"You took a child with you?" She took a step closer to get a proper look at the child. "What is that?"

Sinead suffocated a deep sigh. Now she knew how Mando felt. "A baby Lannik."

"Lannik's aren't green, even the kids."

"His mother is a Twi'lek." Sinead found some jerky in a cupboard and gave the kid a bit, who wolfed it down.

"That doesn't make-"

Mando appeared in the opening, clear starlight behind him making him look like a silhouette. "Someone's coming."

"Shit." Sinead left the kid on her bed. "Stay there." She looked at Mirian. "Both of you."

Outside, the sky was starting to lighten to the east, a merest hint of sunlight at the horizon and animals had started to wake up between the rocks. A group of birds crossed the sky in a tight formation.

Someone was moving towards them, fast, sliding on the scree covered ground.

Sinead drew her blaster and moved into the shadow of a boulder, her breath coming out in controlled bursts. She watched the Mandalorian crouch behind another boulder, his head turned towards the sound.

The Twi'lek, Suri, stumbled into the clearing, her blue skin covered in a fine layer of white dust, half carrying half dragging a rebel, a trail of blood behind them.

Sinead hurried out from behind the boulder. "What happened?"

"They found us-" Suri gasped, clutching the wounded rebel for dear life.

"It was an ambush," the rebel said between clenched teeth. "Tanram told us to run. Get out of here."

"They followed you?" Mando scanned the way they'd come.

"We lost them, but-" Suri took a deep breath- "if they find the blood, it'll lead them right to us."

The wounded rebel pulled himself out of Suri's grip and leaned against a boulder, grimacing as his leg was jostled. "Their comm's don't work here. The rocks-" he tried to put weight on his leg and nearly crumbled to the ground- "makes too much interference."

Mando growled, a deep rumbling sound from his chest. "I'll deal with this. Get ready to leave when I get back."

"Take 'em out quietly, if you can." The wounded rebel waved Suri away as she tried to help him up. "Noise attracts too much attention."

"I'll go with you," Sinead said as the rebels helped each other back to the ship.

"You need to go back and protect the kid."

"It'll be faster if we're two, and we can't risk any of them getting away, sounding the alarm." Sinead drew her blaster again, checking it was ready. "C'mon."

They moved silently through the rocky landscape, keeping to the shadows and trying to avoid the piles of scree covering the ground. The white rocks made it look like everything was covered in a fine layer of snow, making Sinead feel like she was back on Toola and she repressed a shiver as the old blaster-wound twinged. She pressed a hand to the nearest rock, feeling the gentle warmth it emitted.

Mando held up a closed fist, and Sinead stopped in her tracks. Voices moved between the rocks like a ghostly echo.

Three men moved between the boulders, not taking particular care in being quiet, their feet slipping on the ground. The man in the front, a big Twi'lek with teeth filed to such a point that it was a wonder he hadn't punctured his lips, yelled to the others to keep up. They walked in a loose formation, covering as much ground as possible.

Sinead and Mando watched them from higher up, hidden in a shadow. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her close. "I'll circle around, take out the guy furthest down. Wait for my signal, then take out the human."

"What about the big guy?"

"I'll deal with him. Just do it quietly."

Sinead swore as Mando slipped away, seemingly fading into the shadows before her eyes. She didn't like hand-to-hand combat, preferring to keep within blaster range of whoever needed killing.

Her target was coming closer. He held a rifle to his chest, his dark eyes glinting in the moonlight, and Sinead watched as he took one, two, three steps and stopped to look around. One, two, three, stop, look around.

Down the incline, the man furthest down had stopped to check his rifle. As he stood there looking down, Mando materialized out of the shadow like a specter, moving close to the ground, ready to strike. He grabbed the man by the throat, pulling him backwards until it looked like his back was about to break before twisting his head and finally pulling him out of sight.

A small avalanche of pebbles slid from where the man used to be.

The two remaining men turned around.

"Yekk!" The Twi'lek shouted, echo throwing the word back and forth. "Where are you?" He started towards the place, lifting his rifle. "Quit fucking around."

Mando appeared beside him, slamming a heavily armored hand down on the Twi'lek's arm, making the rifle fly through the air. Mando ducked under a fist the size of a grav-ball, stepping around the Twi'lek now slipping on the scree, bringing down a foot on the back of his knee, sending him to the ground.

The human fumbled with his rifle, trying to raise it, when Sinead slammed into his back, bearing down on him with all her weight. She pulled pack his hair and drew her blade across his throat, feeling hot blood cover her hand.

He sputtered once, grabbing at his throat before finally going limp.

Mando let go of the Twi'lek, who fell lifeless to the ground, large dark eyes staring unseeing into the sky.

"Not bad," Sinead said, wiping her hand on the fallen man's jacket.

"Let's get out of here," Mando said, not sparing a glance at the dead men.

They hurried back to the ship. While they walked, Sinead couldn't help but watch Mando move through the uneven terrain. While he wasn't uncoordinated in any sense of the word, back there he'd moved like a snake in the grass, striking quickly and brutally, not giving them a chance to react before it was too late.

Suri was cleaning the other rebel's wounds when Mando and Sinead came up the ramp.

"You handled it?" The rebel asked between clenched teeth.

"Yeah," Sinead said, while Mando went to the bunk to the child who watched everything unfold in solemn silence. "What about the others?"

"Tanram said to take off without them."

"How'll they get off planet?"

"I'm more concerned about us getting off planet," said Suri, winching as she stretched her right arm. "If we're still here when the blockade ship regains power …"

"Yeah, we know," Mando said.

Sinead had just pressed the button to close the ramp when she faltered and turned around. "Where's Mirian?"

The rebels froze. "What? Mirian is here?"

"She stowed away on the ship," Sinead said, her voice sounding like it came from far off. She stumbled to the ladder and poked her head into the empty cockpit. "She's not here."

_"Me-nesh,"_ Suri swore and slammed her fist down on the floor. The wounded rebel hid his face in his hands. "We have to find her."

The Mandalorian sat the child back down on the bunk, his movements carefully restrained. "She knows this place?" His voice shook with barely concealed anger.

"I-I don't know."

"You know where she would go?"

Suri shrugged hopelessly. "I've no idea. I've only seen her on the base."

Mando rounded on the wounded rebel. "Can you still fight?"

The rebel fought up into standing position, waving Suri away when she tried helping. "Give me a blaster and I'll give 'em hell."

"Watch the kid," Mando said. "We'll go look for her."

Outside, the dawn was still only a hint of color in the east. Sinead turned around on her heels, trying to spot a clue to where Mirian might have run off to.

"I'll head up the mountain," Suri said. "See if I can spot her. Down east is the settlement we passed; she might have gone that way." She pulled her lekku, looking worried at the sky. "Don't get caught."

"Likewise, right? Be careful."

"Don't call her name, the Collective might still be around."

Sinead checked that her blaster was still safely holstered, and she and Mando set out on the narrow path that led south, towards the slowly rising sun.

… … … … …

**AN: The whole 'fair is a weather condition' thing is from a song called Shameful Company by Rainbow Kitten Surprise and everyone should go listen to it. It's the number one Sinead and Mando (or Dinead, if you will) song. And of course Ends of the Earth by Lord Huron.**


	10. Search and Rescue

**AN: This chapter was a bit of a struggle, so I hope you guys like it.**

**Also happy May the 4th 3**

Chapter 10 – Search and Rescue

Life was waking between the boulders in preparation for the coming dawn. A colorful lizard darted across the warming rocks, freezing for a moment when it saw Sinead and the Mandalorian before disappearing behind a tuft of coarse grass that grew from cracks in the stone. A small, shrunken tree clung to an outcropping with purple leaves rustling in the wind. The trunk was black, making it look charred and wholly out of place amidst the white rocks.

A small avalanche of pebbles followed them downwards. Sinead tried keeping an eye out for any sign of Mirian but she really had no clue what to look for. As they ran, a sound of rushing water grew louder and louder, echoing between the rock walls. More trees and shrubs appeared growing from whatever dirt they could find.

They rounded a corner and stopped in front of a frothing river that cut through their path. White water splashed over rocks that broke through the water, creating wild eddies that pulled whatever had the misfortune of landing in the water into a wild spin. Mirian was stupid, but not stupid enough to try to cross. If she had so much as stepped a foot in the river she'd been swept away, to either drown on the bottom or be crushed against the rocks.

Two logs made a narrow bridge across the rushing water. The ends sank into the banks on each side and the wood was covered in slimy algae.

Sinead went first on the bridge. Her feet slid on the wet wood, and she breathed deeply through her nose, keeping her eyes locked on the opposite bank, which suddenly seemed miles away. Ice cold spray hit her face, keeping her grounded. Water washed over the bridge, soaking through her boots.

On the other side of the river the ground was soggy and clear footprints led further south. There was more vegetation here and signs of animal life.

Suddenly, the trees and the rocks fell away like someone had plucked them from the ground. Mando and Sinead stood at the edge of a patchwork of fields that stretched as far as the eye could see. Ancient stone dikes carved up every field, white stone glowing in the pre-dawn light.

The settlement nestled into a bend in the river, a dark spot in the green landscape where thin wisps of smoke disappeared up into the morning air. Two dirt roads led out of the city, one going across the river and disappearing east and the other carving through the fields to the west.

"If I was a young girl desperate to prove myself," Sinead said and wiped some sweat from her brow, "I'd start by finding the nearest town."

"There'll be guards."

"It's bound to be more exciting than wandering the wild."

Mando's looked up at the brightening sky. "That's what I'm afraid of," he said with a hollow voice. "Let's just keep out of sight." He didn't need to tell Sinead that. She could blend into most crowds- her survival depended on it- but the Mandalorian stood out everywhere he went.

They started towards the settlement. Knee-high stalks still wet with dew ran in straight lines and the air was filled with a sweet earthy scent. Stiles that looked as old as the stone dikes made their way across the fields a bit easier.

The settlement was bordered by farmhouses, low buildings made of white rock that had turned grey by dirt. A herd of big, hairy creatures watched Mando and Sinead with drooping eyes.

The houses grew closer after the first couple of streets, turning from dirt roads into uneven cobblestone. It smelled of woodsmoke, and Sinead could hear people inside the houses moving around, but the streets were still empty.

Suddenly, Mando froze and gestured to Sinead to get down. She barely had time to duck behind a pile of damp firewood before two black-clad figures strolled down the street, two rifles swinging from their arms.

"Can't believe Commander Rancor-Dick has stationed us out here in the ass-end of nowhere," said one of the men.

"Ranick's always been a tightass, but this shit's made him bloody paranoid. Ain't like anyone's gonna storm a place like this." The other figure rolled up his mask and spat on the logs. Sinead made a face.

"Kriffin' idiot."

They waited until the guards were out of earshot before moving carefully down the street.

"Look," Mando said and stopped in front of a wall covered with peeling and sun-bleached posters. "Gatt said the Collective keeps a tight hold on the planet."

"Explains why the streets are empty," Sinead said. The word 'curfew' screamed out at her in angry red letters.

They continued onwards, keeping to the shadows. Many of the houses were dark and abandoned and broken glass or trash littering the streets. They passed the burnt-out remains of a house, a dark husk of charred beams and crumbling outer walls. Foliage had begun to encroach between the rubble.

They reached a wide street. Mando went first, crossing the lit street and ducking into a narrow alley on the other side. Sinead waited until he was safely out of the light before following him.

"Hey you!"

She froze fight or flight instincts rooting her to the spot in indecision before higher brain power resumed control and she turned and looked. A New Moon soldier stood at the end of the street. He was dressed in black like the two guards with a mask covering his face. There was an inexpertly painted white circle on his chest, the color running into the dark cloth. Most of her attention was drawn to the rifle he pointed directly at her, his finger hovering over the trigger. "What do you think you're doing?"

Mando moved to step into the street.

"Stay back," she hissed.

The soldier stepped closer. "Hey, I'm talking to you! There's a curfew."

Sinead looked at the ground and shuffled back. Her blaster burned in its holster. "I-I know that-"

"If you know that," the soldier sneered, lowering his rifle an inch, "why aren't you home with the other little dokmas, eh?" He reached for her. "Oi! Look at me when I'm-"

Mando darted out from the shadow and grabbed the guard, clamping a hand over his mouth and dragged him back into the alley. Sinead grabbed the soldier's blaster rifle before it hit the ground. She followed them after casting a glance up and down the street.

Mando threw the soldier against the alley wall, using all his strength to keep him pinned. "A human girl," he grunted, "have you seen her?"

The soldier's eyes swiveled in their sockets and a muffled voice came out beneath Mando's hand.

"Nod yes or no."

The soldier shook his head as well as he could under Mando's iron grip.

"_Fuck." _Sinead shook her head and bit her bottom lip. What if Mirian hadn't gone this way? What if she'd turned off and followed one of the roads or been swept away crossing the river?

Suddenly, the sound of marching feet made Sinead scramble farther into the darkness.

Mando grunted when the guard started squirming in his grip, eyes white in the darkness.

Sinead stepped forward and pressed the barrel of the rifle into the soft part of his stomach. "Don't move," she whispered.

Light flickered as four soldiers, dressed head to toe in black, marched down the street. One of them stopped at the mouth of the alley, an arm's length from the trio hiding in the shadows. He stretched while scanning the area, holding his rifle loosely in one hand. Sinead held her breath.

"Oi! Tokker! Curfew's about to end, we gotta get a move on," came a shout from down the street.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming all right." The guard hitched up his pants and disappeared from view.

There was a commotion behind her and she whirled around; the guard had gotten hold of a knife and struck it against Mando's side where it was deflected by beskar, sparks lighting up the small space. Mando slammed into the guard, the knife sliding across beskar again.

Sinead rushed forward and grabbed the guard's wrist, wrenching it back until there was an audible pop and his eyes went wide. The knife fell from his hand.

Mando grabbed it in the air and slammed it into the soldier's throat, who slid slowly to the ground.

"You okay?" Sinead didn't look at the corpse at their feet.

"Yeah," Mando said, checking that his armor held up. "But we can't stay here much longer. We need to get back to the ship."

"I know, but we have to make sure she isn't here." Sinead didn't want to imagine what Gatt would do if they returned sans her niece.

They followed the four guards, keeping to the smaller streets. The city was waking up with the sun; some of the shutters covering the small windows had been opened, showing sleep-weary people getting ready for the day.

Up ahead, the street opened up into a small square where narrow stalls clustered together in a seemingly random order and sun-faded lanterns hung low between rotted wooden poles; many of them had disintegrated, leaving behind a bare wire skeleton to sway in the breeze. The dark houses surrounding the square seemed to close in over the small space.

The four soldiers clustered around at the other end of the square, surrounding two figures laying curled up on the uneven ground. The biggest of the figures, an old man, hid his face in his cloak as blows from the soldiers rained down on him. The other smaller figure was likewise huddled on the ground, a shock of red hair making Sinead grab Mando by the shoulder.

"Mando-"

"I've seen her. Go right and distract them."

Sinead didn't stop to think. She ran along the right side of the square, the rifle heavy in her arms.

"Hey Tokker!"

The soldiers looked up.

"Who-"

A blaster bolt fizzled through the air and one of the men crumbled to the ground, a smoking hole in the middle of his chest.

Sinead stepped to the side as a blaster bolt hit the wall behind her, showering the ground with dust. She fired the rifle and the recoil punched a bruise into her shoulder. Another soldier let out a strangled cry and fell to the ground.

One guard jumped behind a flimsy stall while the last one started running, screaming into his comm-link. Sinead shot him in the back and sent him flying into a hand-drawn cart, flipping it over with a loud crash.

The last soldier fell backward with a smoking hole in his head.

Silence fell over the square. The old man carefully lifted his head.

"Get up," Sinead said when she reached Mirian. She cast a worried look around. Someone was bound to have heard that.

The old man slunk away as Mando came running. "We gotta go," he said, casting a glance behind him.

Sinead grabbed Mirian's wrist and pulled her to her feet. Mirian didn't complain but followed them as they ran for the nearest street leading out of the square.

A door opened and a human woman came out, taking one look at the trio before hurrying inside, slamming the door behind her.

They took a shortcut through a garden made up mostly of mud and weeds. Sinead kept glancing back, her ears prickled for any sign of guards coming their way. She threw the rifle into an uncovered well and pulled out her blaster. They stopped by a rain barrel and Sinead let out a deep breath.

Mirian's face was streaked in dirt and she seemed to curl in on herself. "I didn't mean to-"

Mando shushed her while Sinead hissed "quiet!"

There were shouts in the distance and the sound of heavy footfalls, a group of people moving down the street. There was a loud crash as a door was broken down and someone screamed.

They started running along a dilapidated fence until they found a gap big enough to squeeze through one after one. Raised voices came from a nearby house and something shattered.

Sinead was the first to head down a narrow alley, the sky only a sliver of light above her. Broken glass crunched under her feet. She could hear Mirian's terrified breathing behind her.

A hulking figure appeared at the mouth of the alley. Sinead hit the ground, dragging Mirian down behind her.

A blaster bolt fizzled over her head and hit Mando in the chest, sending him stumbling back with a grunt.

Mirian screamed, her voice reverberated between the walls.

Suddenly, the alley was filled with blaster fire and howls of pain. Sinead got to her feet and squeezed the trigger. The figure fell to the ground but just as soon another took his place.

She threw herself to the side, colliding with the wall to avoid a blaster bolt.

The alley lit up in red again and again. The air smelled like ozone.

She stabbed the nearest dark figure, her knife getting twisted out of her hands as he fell.

Something collided with her back, sending her crashing to the ground. Broken glass cut into her skin as she twisted around and pushed the weight off her. The soldier rolled to the side, a trickle of blood seeping from his mouth.

She scrambled to get up when a boot connected with her ribs. Air left her lungs as she crashed into the ground, her mouth filling with dirty alley water.

Two meaty hands closed around her throat. A dark mask hovered above her, two red-tinted eyes glinting down at her. Putrid breath hit her face.

Her blaster was gone. She tore at his hands, but his grip grew stronger. Dark spots clouded her eyes.

There was a sickening thud and the soldier froze. He blinked once, blood flowing into his eyes.

He pitched forward. Sinead took a deep gulp of air and pushed him away.

Mirian stared at the board held raised in her hands. Her breath hitched.

The last soldier fell. The alley rang with silence.

Sinead got to her feet; broken glass tinkled as it fell from her tattered clothes.

"I-I didn't mean to-" Mirian tore her gaze from the bloody board to Sinead. Her chin quivered.

"No time," Mando said, pulling Mirian to her feet in one fluid motion. "There are still more in the city."

Sinead grabbed her blaster half pinned under a dead soldier, and they set into a sprint.

Sun broke over the horizon as they found a way out of the settlement. Stalks crunched under Sinead's feet as she ran, breathing heavily through her nose. Her chest felt tight.

Mando helped Mirian over a stone dike where the stile had collapsed. Her hands had finally stopped shaking.

They were near the relative safety of the rocks which were painted golden in the early morning light, when Mando's head snapped back to the settlement. "Get down," he growled and threw himself flat against the ground.

Sinead and Mirian dove behind the nearest stone dike. Three speeder bikes shot out of the settlement, a tail of dust behind them. They followed the dirt road at breakneck speed.

Sinead held her breath as they passed. No one moved until the roar of the speeder bikes were gone.

"Do you think they're looking for us?" Mirian's voice shook as she grabbed the stone dike to haul herself to her feet.

"Just move," grunted Mando, who kept an eye on the road as they hurried towards the mountain.

At last, they made it to the river. Sinead jumped on the bridge first, edging her way across. There wasn't any sign of them being followed but still, she'd rather not stay for longer than strictly necessary.

Once her feet hit the ground on the other side of the river, a tiny bit of tension left her shoulders. A small strip of water wouldn't be much of an obstacle for the Collective but it still felt better knowing there was something standing between her and the settlement.

Mirian scrambled down from the bridge, her eyes locked on the ground.

At last, the Mandalorian made his way across. Sinead could read the anger in his shoulders. Something hot and spiky unfurled in her stomach.

Mirian scraped the ground with the tip of her shoe. "I didn't mean to-"

Mando and Sinead exploded at the same time.

"What the fuck were you thinking-"

"Do you realize what you've-"

"-of all the shortsighted, senseless-"

"-and for what? Being a-"

"-idiot girl, I hope your aunt locks you up in a goddamn cell if we ever get back, hopefully you won't do any more harm from there." Sinead's face burned with anger.

Mirian looked at them with wide eyes, face frozen in fear or defeat.

Mando breathed heavily through his nose. "We go back to the ship. You don't touch anything, you don't say anything." He stared Mirian down until she nodded.

Sinead rolled her shoulders, trying to reign back her anger. "Right. Let's go."

Sunlight glinted off the ship when they found their way back between the boulders. Suri walked in circles beside the open ramp, the child watching her solemnly from the opening. He was the first to notice them, babbling excitedly and waddling down the ramp.

Suri spun around, letting go of one of her lekkus. "You found her!"

The old man, Erno, came hurrying out of the ship. "You're too late. The blockade is back online."

"We know," Mando grunted and grabbed the kid before he fell over in his haste to get to the Mandalorian.

"Place'll be swarming with guards any minute. Is there anywhere we can go?" Sinead looked back the way they came. Maybe it was her imagination, but she thought she could hear raised voices.

Erno twirled his hat in his hands. "There are caves on the other side of the mountain. They ain't easy to navigate even if you know the area. I might be able to find one you can hide out in."

"And then we do what? We can't stay there forever," Sinead said.

"We can figure that out later. Now we just need to get out of here," Mando said.

They piled into the ship. The wounded rebel was sleeping in the bunk.

"Don't move a muscle," Mando said to Mirian, who shrunk at the words. Sinead would feel bad for her if this wasn't solely her fault.

Mando disappeared up the ladder with Erno, and the ship turned on with a shudder.

Sinead sat down on the floor with her back against the wall, her side was burning. "You think we're gonna get out of here?"

Suri grimaced and wrapped her arms around herself in a tight hug. "I don't know."


	11. Out

**AN: Originally, I wanted to do something with the whole Mando/Din POV thing but as the story sort of took a life of its own, I don't feel like it really fits the narrative anymore, so don't be confused next time we shift to Din's POV. I've gone back to change chapters 3 and 4 as well.**

**Thanks for reading 3**

Chapter 11 – Out

It felt like someone had strapped a metal band around Sinead's chest, constricting it to the point of making black spots appear at the edge of her vision, but at least her ribs weren't broken, she was pretty sure she wouldn't still be standing.

The ship tilted to the side and she swayed with the motion. Mirian sat with her back against the wall, face pressed to her knees to avoid meeting anyone's gaze. Suri sat on the edge of the bunk where the rebel slept.

"He's gonna be okay?"

"He'll pull through."

"How did it happen?"

Suri wet her lips and looked at the sleeping form. "The New Moon Collective were waiting for us at the cache. I'd say we have a rat, but we weren't even supposed to be there."

"It could be a coincidence."

"Yeah."

"I assume your own rat was responsible for the power outage?"

Suri groaned. "You have no idea how long it took to get him in that position. Maybe he was compromised."

"Still doesn't explain how they knew to ambush you in a place that wasn't even part of your mission."

"Who knows, there might be an even more clandestine rebel cell out there somewhere, wondering why their meeting place looks like a war zone."

"They dodged a blaster bolt."

A tremor went through the ship and Sinead felt it turn round. It was disorienting being stuck in a metal box with no idea what went on outside but clambering up the ladder was out of the question at the moment.

"You know this area?"

Suri sat up from her slumped position. "Not really. I come from the southern hemisphere. Erno grew up in here, though. I know he'll see us through."

"I hope so."

They fell silent.

Finally, the ship touched down heavily, the metal settling with a groan. Suri and Mirian got to their feet, the latter keeping tucked into a corner where she kept her eyes firmly on the ground.

Mando came down the ladder with the kid in one arm, followed by Erno who forced his hat down over unruly grey hair. In her corner, Mirian froze.

"You lot sit tight," said Erno. "They won't come looking here for some time. Only fools would try to hide in this mess of crags and ravines."

"And you'll find some way to contact the others?" Sinead said, pushing off the wall.

"Let's take it one step at a time, eh? Shelter comes first" He checked his blaster. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Mirian skittered out of the way as the ramp started to come down, and as soon as it let the ground with a thud, Erno disappeared.

Sinead sighed. "Because it ended so well last time someone said that."

They waited in pressed silence. Sunlight streamed through the opening and a mild breeze stirred Sinead's hair. Her eyes drifted shut.

Suddenly there was movement around. Her eyes flew open and she looked around, gripping the wall behind her to keep from falling. Did she fall asleep? Her body was stiff and it felt like someone had stuffed her ears with cotton. Erno was back and talking. She tried focusing on his words.

"... as many light sources as you can carry." He disappeared into the sunlight again.

It didn't take long before they were ready to leave. Mando and Suri grabbed the wounded rebel and helped him down the ramp, while Sinead grabbed a lantern and a handful of glowrods she found at the back of a seldom-used compartment. Every movement made her chest constrict painfully.

She was the last to leave the ship, which stood glinting in the sunlight. It looked like Mando had found the only flat area for miles; all around were sheer rock walls that seemed to lean over the ship, and it was a feat of maneuvering that Mando hadn't crushed them against the unforgiving rocks.

Erno showed them through a gap which led to a narrow passage that climbed steadily upwards. Sinead nearly dropped the lantern as an outcropping caught her on the side of the head and she could hear the scraping of metal as Mando pushed through the cramped space. The sound of crashing water could be heard over the wind whistling through the passage.

Suddenly, one side fell away and Sinead couldn't hold back a gasp; Luria in all its glory stretched out beneath them, white mountain giving away to a rolling forest that went on as far as the eye could see, unbroken and almost glowing in the sunlight. The wind tugged on her hair and clothes, pulling her towards the edge. They had stopped in front of a roaring waterfall, the source somewhere above them, and the path went on under the falling water, skirting north around the mountain. The rocks were slick with water and one misstep would send her plunging over the side.

Instead of trying to traverse the waterfall, Erno led them through another crevasse hidden by and through a small ravine that opened up to a small hollow. Somewhere nearby, the water roared on the way to the waterfall.

A cave led farther into the mountain, looking impossibly dark from out in the sunlight. Erno scrambled up to the entrance and ducked into the darkness, the others following him.

Once she crossed the threshold into the cave, she was surprised that the temperature didn't drop; the white rocks around them emitted a soft warmth like the others had, heating the air until it was just shy of unpleasant. It smelled of mildew and rot and beneath it all, there was something musky and unidentifiable. From deeper inside the cave came a sound of dripping water.

"Ranars use these caves for hibernation during the winter, but this time of the year they're all down in the Woodlands," Erno said. "It's not much but I doubt anyone's gonna find you right away. As long as you don't draw attention to yourselves."

Sinead put down the lantern and grit her teeth against the pain. "Couldn't we just have stayed on the ship?"

"If the Collective does come sniffing about, it's better they find an empty ship, wouldn't you agree." Erno adjusted his hat.

Mirian pushed past Sinead and went farther into the cave. Sinead was about to follow when Erno held out a hand. "It's blocked farther down. She'll stay put unless she suddenly gets the power to shift a thousand tons of rocks."

"I'm sure she'll find a way."

"Suit yourself. If you ask me, the girl might do good with some space."

Erno turned to the rest of their little group. "I'll go try to get in contact with the others, find out what the plan is. Make yourselves comfortable, I don't know how long it'll take."

"I was more comfortable in the ship," Sinead muttered, but she did see his point in going here, she just wished 'here' had a proper bed.

Once Erno left, everyone made themselves busy; Suri hovered around the rebel who looked like he'd much rather be left alone, the kid toddled around exploring the cave with Mando right behind him.

Sinead squinted against the light as she ducked outside the cave. The sun was nearing the top of the sky and there was no cloud in sight only a wide expanse of pure azure. The area truly was a maze of razor-sharp ridges and sheer, deadly drops, so she kept close to the cave.

Leaning against the baking rock, she let her outer jacket fall to the ground and started rolling up the hem of her shirt, the fabric falling away to reveal a bruise the size of a jogan fruit stretching across her ribs, going from deep purple to sickly yellow at the edges. Carefully, she ran her hand across, her fingertips barely touching the skin. Taking a deep breath, she prodded every rib making sure it wasn't broken.

A sound made her look up and she startled at the sight of the Mandalorian standing a few feet from her, looking pointedly away from her. The child appeared at his feet, grabbing his leg to keep his balance on the uneven ground.

Sinead dropped her shirt back in place, wincing when the skin stretched painfully over her abused ribs.

Mando cleared his throat. "I just, er, wanted to see if you ... if you're alright."

"It's not a wrench to the head. I'll survive." Sinead smoothed down her shirt and forced herself not to avert her eyes. "Next time I'll let you take the hit, you're better dressed for it."

"Hm." Mando glanced at her quickly before looking across the hollow. "Don't fall asleep out here. It isn't safe."

"No, I'm coming."

Back inside the cave, Suri had set up camp a little ways from the entrance where their meager supplies were piled up on the ground. The lamp stood on a raised outcropping and cast a circle of warm light.

Sinead sat down with her back against the rock and tried to relax, but even that was painful as if the tension of her muscles was the only thing holding her body together. The rock was warm against her back and the stale air seemed to be a physical weight on her, dragging her down. Every sound seemed either dulled or heightened, every incessant drip a jolt through her body.

Ever so slowly, her eyes drifted shut.

... ... ... ... ...

When Sinead opened her eyes, the light was different. The lamp still shone the same but the sunlight streaming from the entrance to the cave was softer, tinted pink and golden.

Suri sat cross-legged on the other side of the temporary camp, the lamplight throwing her soft features into sharp relief. "Welcome back," she said when she saw Sinead was awake. "I'm impressed you can fall asleep in a place like this. You and the Mandalorian were out light a light."

Sinead started to stretch and hissed as her abused body screamed out in agony. "Believe it or not this isn't the worst place I've ever fallen asleep."

"Oh really? There's a story behind that?"

The palace on Sriluur came to the forefront of her mind. "Not really."

"Oh."

Sinead wet her dry lips and looked around. "Where's the Mandalorian?"

"He woke up a bit before you, left with the little one."

"Is that safe?"

Suri put up her hands. "I wasn't about to argue with him."

Sinead chuckled and winced. "Anything happen while I was out?"

"Everything's been quiet. The Barrow protects us." Suri caressed the stone below her.

Leaning forward, Sinead managed to peel herself off the rock, her sweaty shirt sticking uncomfortably to her back. "The Barrow's a strange name for a mountain, isn't it?"

"It's an old story. According to legend, Luria - the person - is buried deep under the mountain and the stones shot forth to protect her eternal resting place."

"Who came first, the person or the planet?"

Suri smiled. "You're taking the story too literally. Creation myths are rarely meant to be taken at face value. The stone above our heads was created out of love, to protect, and protect it will."

Sinead was about to ask who created it when the rebel at the entrance made a soft sound and lifted his blaster. "Someone's coming."

Sinead and Suri scrambled to their feet, Sinead grabbing her blaster and listening with all her might, but all she could hear was the steady dripping from further in the cave.

The Mandalorian appeared in the opening, a dark silhouette against the soft light, carrying the child in one arm and a pack in the other. Sinead lowered her weapon.

The rebel lowered himself back onto his perch. "So you didn't fall into a ravine," he sneered. "Hope you had fun."

Mando ignored him and moved further into the cave where the child cooed when he saw Sinead was awake.

"See anything out there?" She asked and holstered her blaster.

"A couple of crafts in the sky was moving south, but I don't think they're looking for us. They haven't found the ship."

"That's something at least."

He let the kid down and reached into the pack, procuring a small jar that he threw to Sinead, who caught it and peered at the label. It was the last of the T'pala paste.

"Thanks," Sinead said and looked up at Mando.

He nodded once before grabbing the kid and moving away to a darker area where he started to unpack the rest of the supplies.

When she went outside the cave, the sun was hovering an inch above the horizon where it painted the clouds gold and pink, stark against the blue sky. Sinead closed her eyes against the light and let the soft breeze wash over her. Then she applied the paste to her side, whatever was left of it, and pocketed the empty jar. A now-familiar coolness seeped into her skin, but it only went so far; every time she moved, pain bloomed on her side.

She ducked back into the cave and stood in the darkness waiting for her eyes to adjust. In the far back of the cave, a single light showed where Mirian sat with her back to the entrance. Sinead picked her way across the uneven ground and sat down near Mirian.

A black pool of water blocked the rest of the cave. The water was completely still and it disappeared into the darkness that Mirian's small glowrod couldn't penetrate. From here, the dripping was louder.

They sat in silence for some time, Sinead counting the drips that came like clockwork. Then she cleared her throat. "I'm not here to yell at you, I think you got the message last time." She crossed her legs and tried to find a more comfortable position. "I just want to know what you were thinking running off like that. I get wanting to help or be part of something bigger than yourself, I just can't figure out the leap between 'wanting to fight for the cause' and 'putting everyone in unnecessary danger.'"

Mirian looked away sharply, her knees pressed to her chest.

"You didn't just put our lives in danger, you know that, right? You've spend however long at the base, even if nobody told you anything, I'm sure you know bits and pieces of what's going on. Otherwise, you wouldn't have hidden on the ship."

A tremble ran through Mirian. "Just leave me alone," she said weakly.

"I will. Just wanna make sure you understand." Sinead got up, giving Mirian a long look. She saw a lot of herself in Mirian; losing her parents, her entire life turned upside down in an instant, totally powerless to do anything about it. In the end, terrorists and pirates weren't so different. She had even stowed away on a ship, although Sinead had been trying to escape danger and not run headlong into it.

She found Mando and the kid close to the entrance. When she sat down, the kid crawled into her lap. "I'm just about done with Luria," she said and closed her eyes.

Mando hummed in agreement.

"How long do you think it'll take?"

"I don't know. A couple of days, maybe."

"Ugh." Sinead looked down at the child who was in the process of going through her pockets. "We should go, just try to bludgeon our way through the blockade instead of sitting here."

"You wouldn't get far."

"It's better than sitting here, twiddling our thumbs."

"You ever heard about something called patience?"

"I don't have time to be patient. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner I can get my hands on those records and the sooner you get the weapon."

"You're not getting your hands on anything if you're dead."

"At least I won't be in a position to complain about it."

"You never told me where you hid the whip."

"Ha! Nice try."

They fell into a comfortable silence. Sinead helped the kid balance on her leg to reach into her breast pocket.

"You're good with him."

Sinead looked up. "Hm?"

Mando seemed to go still and he cleared his throat. "You, uh- you're good with him. He likes you."

"And I like him." She fished the droid eye necklace she'd gotten on Tatooine out of the kid's hands before he tried to eat it. "I get why you didn't leave him."

Mando cast a glance around them but Suri and the rebel were sitting together by the entrance, and Mirian was still hiding at the back of the cave, too far away to hear anything. "You have experience with children?"

"We all helped each other where we could. A lot of the others had children, so I minded them whenever I had the time." Plus, one time where she had had to tend to the Hutt's son, a humiliating ordeal she didn't care to recount.

"Were there many families?"

"Some. Many of them were born there, which meant their kids too."

"You weren't?"

Sinead looked down at the kid in her lap. "No."

_Breathe._

There was a shout from the entrance, and Mando and Sinead were on their feet in an instance, Mando moving to stand in front of Sinead who turned to shield the kid.

"It's Tanram!"

Sinead breathed out a sigh of relief as Tanram appeared at the entrance, followed by Erno. Tanram's hands were clenched at his side and he scanned the cave with narrowed eyes. "Where is she?"

"Look, Tan-" began Suri.

"Where is she?"

Something stirred in Sinead's chest. "Look, she knows what she did. Yelling at her won't help."

"We'll see about that." He made to stalk towards the back of the cave when Sinead handed Mando the child and stepped in Tanram's path. "Move."

"No."

"We don't have time for this," Mando snapped. "You know how we can get out of here?"

Tanram gave Sinead a furious look before taking a deep breath. "Seems like our people down here haven't been idle. They managed to steal access codes that should give you a clear shot out of here." He shot another seething look towards the back of the cave. "I don't need to explain to you how big a blow this is to the cause, do I? We could've used these codes, but now we have to give them to you."

"Thank you," Mando said shortly. "When do we leave?"

Tanram gritted his teeth. "Whenever you can persuade the princess to move." He gestured to Suri to follow him and they went outside.

"I'll go get her," said Sinead and moved to the back of the cave where Mirian sat stiffly in the same spot, her eyes wide and terrified. "C'mon, we're leaving."

Mirian didn't move. "What's ... what's gonna happen?" The question came out in a shaky breath.

"We're leaving is what's gonna happen." Sinead held out a hand for Mirian to grab, but there was still enough obstinacy in the girl to ignore the proffered hand and scramble to her feet on her own. Sinead didn't know whether to smile or to scowl.

The trek back to the ship was done in silence. Mirian had fallen in between Mando and Sinead, who acted as shields against Tanram's withering looks.

The wind had picked up since their last foray into the mountain and coupled with the dusk, the trip back seemed longer and more dangerous. Sinead felt the wind tear at her clothes and hair and she took short careful steps.

The ship stood where they left it, dusty and welcome. As soon as the ramp was down Mirian scurried into the ship, probably to avoid Tanram, who looked like he was about to explode again.

"We appreciate the help getting us out of here," Mando said, stopping Tanram from going after Mirian.

"I'm not doing it for you." Tanram shoved a small stack of datacards into Sinead's hands. "The access code-" he tapped on the card on top of the pile. "The rest goes to Gatt as soon as you land. If you get caught at the blockade, destroy them."

"What are they?"

"None of your concern. Just get them to her."

"You're not coming?" Mando asked.

"No, I'm needed here. Erno'll go with you, make sure that Gatt gets the full story." He nodded to the man.

"If they know this code has been stolen …" Sinead shifted her grip on the datacards.

"You'll be shot down somewhere over Luria, probably." Tanram ground his teeth. "Look, this is the only plausible way out. You're welcome to go back to the cave and wait for the planet to be liberated, but I have a feeling you want to get back as much as I want you out of here."

"We'll take that chance," Mando said and plucked the access code from the stack.

"Good." Tanram stepped back as the rest of them piled into the ship. "Remember, get them to Gatt. Right away."

Sinead saluted him with her one free hand and then the ramp closed, then left the datacards in a pile on the bunk bed. Mirian had found a space on the floor and the rebel limped up and down the length of the ship, muttering quietly under his breath.

Mando, the kid, and Suri were in the cockpit, readying the ship for take-off. Sinead stood behind Mando's chair.

"Ready to leave Luria behind?" Suri asked.

"No offense, but I hope I never come back here again," Sinead said.

"I guess that's fair."

Mando pushed the datacard into the nav-computer and started the process of firing up the ship, which came to life with a roar, and at last, it rose from the ground towards the dark sky. Sinead could have cried when she saw the ground disappear beneath them.

It didn't take long before the blockade came into view. Mando slowed the ship.

"So we just … fly past?" Sinead gripped the headrest harder.

"I'm sending the codes," Mando said, pressing buttons on the nav-computer. "If it works we can-"

Sharp static filled the cockpit. "-'ere no record of a ship going out," a disembodied voice said. "What's going on?"

Sinead leaned forward before anyone had time to react. "There ain't supposed to be a record of us. We're on special business."

"Wh-" Suri started before Sinead gestured wildly for her to shut up. She cursed under her breath.

"And what business is that?" The voice sounded suspicious.

"The kind you ain't supposed to know about. We got the codes, don't we?" Sinead's mind spun a mile a minute. "You can take it up with Commander Ranick on your head, but right now we need to get through."

"Stand by." The static dissipated.

Suri hid her head in her hands.

Mando gripped the helm with enough force to make it creak. "Sinead-"

"Be ready to make a run for it."

The comm came back to life. "Commander Ranick is out of reach-"

Sinead took a deep breath and straightened into her full height. "Ain't my problem. You either let me through and find a way to contact Commander Ranick on your own time, or you keep me here, which will result in an avalanche of shit coming your way, you'll be lucky if Commander Ranick doesn't use you for target practice."

The following silence was the longest in Sinead's life.

"The codes are coming through," said the voice through the comm, sounding more subdued. "You're clear to go."

Sinead sagged with relief and she allowed herself a triumphant smirk. "Much obliged."

"I can't believe that worked," Suri said.

"We're not through yet," Mando said, letting the ship glide forward.

Sinead rolled her eyes, it felt like her heart was about to jump out of her chest.

The Razor Crest reached the blockade. The nearest ship was in sight, small windows along the side that shone brightly against the darkness of space, and she imagined she could see little figures watching the ship, judging if they were allowed to pass.

Then they were through. It felt anticlimactic after all they had been through. No sirens or lasers, just the wide expanse of space in front of them.

Once they were out of reach of any scanners, the ship turned and headed to Celvalara.


	12. The Mines of Celvalara

Chapter 12 – The Mines of Celvalara

It felt like years, not days since they set out from Celvalara, and Din allowed himself a deep breath as the ship touched down on the moon, letting himself feel the exhaustion that weighed on him like a lead blanket, before steeling himself once again. The mission wasn't over yet.

A cluster of people had already gathered in front of the ship. A shock of red hair moved through the crowd.

The child cooed when Din picked him up. "Glad to be out of there?" Din asked quietly, looking closely at the little green face, the dark eyes that felt like they could penetrate his helmet and see the real him.

The ramp was down when he got down the ladder, Suri and the rebel had already disappeared into the crowd below and Erno stood at the bottom of the ramp talking with Gatt.

Sinead stood by the opening, looking at Mirian who stood with her back against the opposite wall. "You can't hide in here," Sinead said. "Just get it over with."

Mirian squared her shoulders but no amount of determination could hide her trembling hands, and she hurried down the ramp and gave Gatt one frightful look before elbowing her way through the crowd.

Gatt's blue eyes followed her niece, a vein popping on her temple. Once Din and Sinead had made it down to the ground, she turned her steely eyes on them. "What the fuck happened out there?" Her hands clenched at her side.

Sinead took a small step forward. "Maybe we should take this inside."

… … … … …

Gatt drew a hand across her face, breathing deeply through her nose. Sinead and Erno had just finished telling her what happened, with little input from Din, who chose to stand at the back of Gatt's cramped office. The kid nestled into his arm, seemingly content with just quietly watching what was happening.

"How did you not notice a girl in that tiny bucket of rust?"

"She hid under the main motor, with a breath mask," Sinead said.

"Idiot girl." Gatt pinched her lips together. "My sister and her bleeding heart of a husband coddled her. She doesn't know anything about the real world. I'll deal with Mirian later."

Sinead shifted. "She was nearly killed, don't you think that's punishment enough?"

"I'm not one to let insubordination slide."

"She's a child, not one of your men. Isn't that why you don't want her involved?"

Din felt the change in the room as Gatt glowered at Sinead. He was about to step forward, when the door opened and the politician hurried in, nearly knocking into Din. It seemed like he had a knack for interrupting tense situations. "Ah, there you are! I heard you were back." He tripped around the desk and stood beside Gatt, who looked about as pleased to see him as she was of hearing Sinead's remark. "I assume those are for us." He gestured to the stack of datacards sitting in front of Gatt.

"They are," Gatt said between gritted teeth.

"Marvelous!" He beamed across the desk. "I would like to extend to you my most sincere gratitude for your invaluable help in this, our fight against tyranny. Rest assured, your names will not be forgotten as we continue to work towards a brighter future."

That nearly made Din snort. He wondered what Bal-Sul would say if they pointed out that he didn't know their names, and would like to keep it that way. He'd probably flounder for a bit before trying to change the subject. Politicians.

"I do believe it's time for you to uphold your end of the bargain," Sinead said once Sul-Bal was done with his spiel.

"Right," Gatt sighed, and got up from her desk. She went to the door and bellowed down the corridor. "Sedabb!"

The Sullustan appeared in the doorway, wiping his brow with a trembling hand. "Yes, Commander?"

"Escort these two down to the archive." She looked directly at Sinead. "Do not take them anywhere else. Once they're done, take them to their ship. Do not let them wander, ya hear?"

"Y-yes, Commander." Sedabb's jowls trembled.

"You stay here, Erno," Gatt said, moving back to sit behind the desk. "We're not done yet."

Din was glad when the door shut to Gatt's office and he'd be even gladder to leave the moon, but they still had work to do.

Sinead seemed to walk faster as they followed Sedabb into the mine, her eyes shining in the harsh light even as they turned red and irritated from the hot gusts of wind. Din felt the heat too, how it snuck under his armor and made beads of sweat break out on his brow. He couldn't wait to get a moment alone so he could remove his helmet; it felt like he'd lived in his armor for weeks.

They came to an old lift that led further into the depths. It was nothing more than a platform held in place by two cables suspended over a void, no railing of any kind to keep anyone from falling into the deep. Din subconsciously held the child closer.

"It doesn't look like much, but I promise you it's safe," Sedabb said, scuffing the ground with his foot. "Lurian craftsmanship always holds up." He grabbed a rusty lantern from a hook on the wall and handed it to Sinead.

"I guess we have to take your word for it," Sinead said and stepped into the lift, the movement sending a shudder through the cables.

Din went after her and felt how the platform wobbled with every movement. The child craned his neck to see into the deep.

Sedabb hit a small lever set into the wall and jumped on before the platform started to descend, the movement sending it swinging. Din's heart jumped in his chest and his hand shot out and grabbed Sinead's shoulder before she lost her balance. On his other arm, the child giggled.

"Sorry about that," Sedabb squeaked. "There's supposed to be someone manning the lever at all times, but now it's just me."

"A little warning next time." Sinead's voice was higher than normal.

"Sorry ..."

Din's hand fell away the second he was sure she wasn't about to slide over the edge. She flashed him a small grateful smile before clearing her throat and looking at the child. "At least he's having fun."

Carefully, Sedabb picked his way across the platform. "What is it?" He asked and peered at the child in Din's arms, who fought the instinct to shield him from view.

He rolled his shoulders in irritation, about to tell the Sullustan to mind his own business when Sinead jumped in.

"He's a baby Jawa."

"W-what?"

"That's how they look under their robes. You didn't think they sprang out fully cloaked, did you?"

Din grinned under his helmet.

"Really?" Sedabb stared at the child, his mouth open. "But his eyes aren't yellow."

"They don't start turning yellow before adolescence, see. It's still just a Youngling." Sinead's smirk was visible even in the gloom.

"Why -uh ... why'd you have it?"

"We found him-" she seemed to catch Din's look even through his helmet- "on, uh, Tatooine. Abandoned."

"Oh," Sedabb took off his soft cap and dabbed some sweat from his brow. "That was nice of you to keep him."

The lift moved at a snail's pace. Every gust of wind made it rock on the cable which creaked in the darkness above them and the lamp cast a weak circle of light that barely lit the platform. It grew hotter and a sharp stink of sulfur and rot filled the air.

At long last, the lift touched ground and Sedabb was the first to skitter off the platform and onto uneven ground. "We're here," he said and threw out an arm to gesture at their surroundings. From what could be seen in the low light it looked like more of the same uneven tunnels as before, although the stench of sulfur was much stronger.

Sinead got off the platform and turned on her heel. "Lovely place you got here." Her voice echoed down the tunnel.

The Sullustan smiled shyly at the ground. "I-I'm the only one who comes down here, really, and Bix of course. You'll meet him in a bit."

A small wave of relief went through Din once his feet were once again planted on uneven, but secure, ground. He looked up at the impenetrable darkness above. "You don't use the tunnels for anything?"

"Um, not really, no. The risk of cave-ins is too big." He caught Sinead's expression. "I-I mean most folks can't navigate this place alone, they'll wander into an unstable tunnel and boom." He wiped his forehead again.

"Well, consider me reassured."

Sedabb wrung his hands. "It's not far, honestly. There's nothing to worry about." He led them down a small tunnel that seemed to be going in a straight line, and it didn't take long before Din lost all sense of direction in the darkness. Thousands of feet had worn down the ground to a smooth surface.

"You sure you don't need the light?" Sinead's voice echoed through the tunnel.

Sedabb was nothing but a silhouette in the darkness. "Oh no, we Sullustan's evolved underground. Having a light in my eyes would only slow me down to tell you the truth."

They came to a junction of sorts, a small chamber where more tunnels led farther into the mine. The light revealed old signs in Aurebesh that Din couldn't read in the low light. Apparently, Sedabb didn't need them, because he made his way to one unremarkable tunnel and gestured for them to follow.

"You know what they mined down here?" Sinead ducked under a spiderweb that hung suspended between two rusty beams that Sedabb had somehow avoided.

"Bix knows more about it than I do, really, I mostly map the caves and such. He found some records the other day, about a project they were working on."

"Who's they?" Din asked. His cloak fluttered in the hot wind.

"Oh, um, it was the Empire. They showed up years ago, started up the old mines even though it was too dangerous. Celvalara's structure is already weak, you know, but they just kept on digging. Celvalara's more mine than moon at this point, I always say." He sent a smile over his shoulder.

"What were they looking for? Spice?" Sinead asked.

"Goodness no, we don't have anything like that here. It's hard to say, on account of the Empire leaving in such a hurry. I think- I mean, Bix thinks that they were building some big station called Eclipse."

"What kinda name is that?"

"Codename, probably."

Something skittered across the rock and high-pitched squeaks echoed through the tunnel. An upturned cart lay across the passage spilling dirt and rocks on the ground.

"Why would anyone ever abandon a place like this," Sinead said as she skirted around the cart."

"Haha, yes," Sedabb said nervously. "It's just through here." He stopped by the same kind of door that led to Gatt's office. This one was propped open by a wrench and warm light spilled out of the gap and it groaned when Sedabb forced it open.

It looked like the room's original purpose had been an observation deck and not an archive; one of the walls was made up entirely of a thick window looking out into total blackness, and along the opposite wall ran a control panel that stretched all the way up to the tall ceiling. The new occupants of the room had filled it to the brim with stuff_;_ mining tools and equipment, broken data discs, machinery parts spilling foul-smelling oil on the floor, and broken stormtrooper armor was all thrown in a pile in the middle of the room or stacked on every available surface. The fluorescent lights that lined the room had long since died so it was lit solely by flickering lanterns placed wherever there was room on the floor.

A low clicking sound sent a spike of adrenaline down Din's spine. A creature dislodged itself from the ceiling and landed between the heaps of junk, toppling over a stack of flimsi. Its bulbous eyes narrowed as it looked from Din to Sinead.

Din turned his body to shield the child while grabbing his blaster in a fluid motion.

Sedabb let out a squeak and skittered into Din's vision. "Don't shoot! He's a friend. It's Bix!"

The Geonosian made a long string of clicks and beat his wings in aggravation. Din sneered under his helmet. He'd only met a Geonosian once years before and he had heard rumors that the Empire had wiped most of them out. Despite everything, he felt a small stab of sympathy.

"Oh, um, Gatt ordered me to bring them down here. They're looking for someone."

Bix let out a guttural scream, and the kid hid his face in Din's arm.

"I'm sorry," Sedabb winced. "He … doesn't really like people in his space."

"You understand him?" Sinead slowly let her hand fall from her blaster.

"Um, yes. It's not that hard really once you get the hang of it. It's a bit like binary."

"Right," she muttered. Her brow furrowed when she looked around the room. "You found all of this in the mine?"

"You won't believe how much stuff the Empire left just lying around."

Bix sat down on the only surface not occupied by useless crap, still clicking a long string of nonsensical sounds. The bad lighting cast strange shadows over his twig-like body.

"You know what happened down here to make the Empire clear out?" Sinead crouched down to get a better look at the Stormtrooper armor. She reached out for the nearest helmet, and Bix erupted in a shrill scream. The child cried out and Din drew his blaster.

Sedabb jumped between them again. "Wait! He doesn't like anyone touching his things!"

Getting to her feet, Sinead sneered at the Geonosian. "You don't say!"

Sedabb looked imploringly at Din. "Please just put your blaster down and tell him what you need to find."

Slowly, Din lowered his blaster but kept it at hand just in case the Geonosian went off again. The child made a soft noise and Din held him a little closer while trying to relax his tense shoulders.

"Okay." Sinead folded her arms across her chest. "Okay, let's get this over with." She looked at the Geonosian. "I'm looking for someone by the name of Kyen Beck. He came here along with other slaves from the Hutt Empire, I'm not sure exactly when."

Bix stopped his clacking and jumped down from his seat, hobbling over to a stack of datacards hidden under a stained stormtrooper chest plate. He started going through them, replacing each one carefully when he was done peering at the name.

"Why, uh, why do you need to find a former slave?" Sedabb's voice wobbled as he spoke.

"I have my reasons." Sinead's eyes followed the Geonosian's every move.

Din recognized the look Sedabb gave him, he'd seen it countless times before in the faces of his bounties or whoever was stupid enough to hide them. Fear, disgust, anger. The child felt heavy in his arms.

To everyone's surprise, Sedabb took a deep breath and stood up straight, his entire body trembling with indignation. "Now I-I don't … I don't think I can just let you d-do that."

"We're not here to-" Din said before really realizing what he was doing. "I mean … he's not-" He stopped short, he'd never before cared what some stranger thought of him so why now?

Sinead tore her gaze away from Bix, her brows furrowed before she caught on. "We're not trying to bring him back, I swear. I, um, knew him. From the Hutts."

Her last statement hung in the air.

"Oh. Oh!" Sedabb cast his eyes down on the cluttered ground. "I didn't know that."

"So can we maybe …" Sinead gestured to the datapads.

"Ah, yes, right!" Sedabb said and turned to Bix. "Found anything yet?"

The Geonosian made a noise Din assumed meant yes and went over to the control panel that lined the wall where he shoved a collection of metal plates off the console to reveal a dusty screen with a big crack running along the bottom which flickered on with a small pop. Bix slotted the datacard into the console and a row of names appeared on the screen. Sinead rushed forward and Bix screeched again, shielding the screen with his body.

"Alright, fine!" Sinead threw up her hands in defeat. "Just look for Kyen Beck."

Bix warbled something under his breath and turned back to the screen while blocking as much of it as he could with his thin body.

While they waited, Din went over to a hollowed-out astromech propped up in the corner, taking care not to touch anything. Neither Sedabb nor the lone Geonosian was any real threat to him, but every minute staying on this godforsaken moon wound him even tighter with anxiety.

Sinead didn't move a muscle and stared a hole into the Geonosian's back, her face carefully neutral.

Something glinted in the glow from the lamps half-hidden by a moth-eaten uniform of undeterminable origin, and Din pulled it away without thinking and grabbed the small metal disc which shoved two crossed force pikes.

Bix clacked loudly and flapped his wings so hard he lifted a foot off the ground.

"He says that there's no record of a Kyen Beck working here," Sedabb squeaked. "Sorry."

"What?" Sinead strode to the screen and pushed Bix out of the way under loud clacking protest. "He must've been here! Check it again!"

Sedabb raised his voice over the indignant Bix. "I'm sorry, but I did say that some of the records are missing."

"So what? We risked our lives for nothing?"

Din looked down at the emblem. "Maybe not."

Sinead stopped mid-rant. "What do you mean?"

"This." He threw the disc to Sinead. "You heard about Loovria? Used to be a slave hub during the Empire."

She ignored Bix's angry screams. "Unfortunately, yes." She jabbed the emblem at Sedabb. "Where did you find this?"

"Let me see." Sedabb gingerly took the emblem and peered at it. "I'm not really sure, it could've come from a lot of places."

"But are you sure you found it here in the mine?"

"Oh yes, it's definitely from here."

Din breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe now they could finally leave. "If the Empire dealt with Loovria, he could have been sent there or somebody there might know him."

Sinead bit her lower lip and looked back at the screen.

"Best lead we got."

"Alright," she grunted, and Sedabb handed her the emblem back, under loud protests from Bix.

"C'mon Bix, it's not like we need it. You didn't even know it was there in the first place!"

Sinead joined Din at the door where she offered Sedabb a weak smile. Din noticed how she drew her thumb across the emblem in an almost trance-like way.

"Thank you," Din said to Sedabb who shuffled a bit on the spot.

"Don't mention it," he said. "We're just happy to help. I hope you find him."

"I do too." Sinead closed her hand around the emblem.

Finally, they could get out of here.

... ... ... ... ...

They were still here.

A surly dug had informed them as they arrived outside, that he'd been asked to fill the ship with fuel and now Din had nothing to do but wait for him to be done. The child toddled around in the trampled grass on the lookout for anything to examine or eat. Din followed behind him but otherwise left him to his own devices since it wouldn't be long before he was cooped up in a ship again.

Sinead had been quiet on the way back and she had disappeared as soon as they came out of the mine.

The kid tried to climb up a power converter that was connected to half a dozen starships and Din grabbed him before he could electrocute himself. He was about to return to the ship when he heard a familiar voice over the sound of the base.

"I'm glad I caught you before we leave," Sinead said, her voice coming from behind a starfighter.

"I don't wanna talk to you," Mirian mumbled.

"That's fine, I'll talk at you and you can choose whether or not to listen." There was a slight pause. "I know it feels like you're alone in all of this, but almost getting killed isn't the answer. I honestly don't know if you wanted to help or you were trying to kill yourself, but you can't drag other people down with you: You get that, right? You're not the first one to be trapped against your will and you won't be the last but dying isn't the only way out."

Din knew he should go, but his feet were frozen to the ground.

"A wise woman once told me that no matter what they do to you, as long as you keep breathing, they haven't won. Ever. No matter how much you want to scream and fight back, you keep your head down until you find a moment to strike. I promise it's coming, someday you get to fight back on your own terms."

"And what happens if I can't just sit here?" Mirian's voice was thick with tears.

"You have to. No matter how much it hurts you keep on breathing. And if the urge to stow away on a ship ever gets too strong, find some small rebellion to tide you over. I used to steal, although I have to advise you against taking anything too important. You want to show you're still living, not tank the whole operation."

Mirian made a sound like she was stifling a laugh.

The seemed to snap Din out of whatever kept him there and he hurried back to the ship and tried to tamp down on the uneasy feeling that made his chest feel tight.

Sinead showed up just as the dug hobbled away, and she sent Din a smile that made him look away.

"You ready to go?" She asked.

"Mhm."

"How do you know about Loovria? Been there before?"

"Was there for a bounty."

"Oh."

"A bail jumper hiding out in the capital city. You heard about it too?"

"We all knew about Loovria. No matter how bad we had it, someone always had it worse." She looked down at the emblem still in her hands. "Luria, Loovria. As long as it doesn't end with us running for our lives."

"Right." Din grabbed the ladder. "Let's go before they find something else they need us to do."

… … … … …

**AN: There you have it, the end of the Celvalara arc, which turned out to be two chapters longer than planned, rendering my carefully crafted outline completely useless :(**


	13. Bloodsport

**A/N: Hiya guys. I'm sorry this update took so long, but I wanted to finish the entire arc before posting it. That means you can look forward to regular updates every other week for some time.**

**Really looking forward to hearing what you think about this bit. Writing it has been both fun and very complicated.**

**Since FFN has been a little **_**unstable**_** as of late, I just wanna mention that I'm also posting on AO3 under the same pen name, so if the site ends up deleting itself or whatever, you know where to find me.**

Chapter 13 - Bloodsport

Loovria was a small but heavily populated planet located in the mid rim and was the last stop on the D'aelgoth Trade Route before hitting the outer rim. The first settlers had tried terraforming the planet into something akin to habitable, but the process never really stuck and Loovria remained a barren wasteland. Once they found oil in the ground, refineries and small cities materialized in the blink of an eye.

Strako, the capital city, stood out amongst the others with the Arena, a place where gladiator slaves fought in the pit for blood and honor. Once the Empire fell and the New Republic outlawed slavery, only free sentient beings who could prove they fought out of their own volition could prove themselves.

Sinead desperately reminded herself of that as she looked at a gold statue erected in front of the enormous arena in the center of the city. The statue glinted in the sunlight, the most recent champion who fought through the ranks. Children played around the base of the statue and she wondered if they even knew who it was.

The second the Razor Crest had docked in the sprawling spaceport, she had shot from the ship like a dupie without looking back. Long space journeys were always hard but long space journeys on board a ship not meant for habitation, with a kid and a man who refused to take off his helmet in anyone's presence was downright brutal.

She took a deep breath, smelling cooking oil from a nearby street vendor, pollution from the many smokestacks that sprang up from every rooftop, and a metallic tang underneath it all. The arena stood looming in the perpetual smog and it was by far the biggest building in the city.

Her eyes stung when she closed her eyes against the light. She'd tried sleeping but every time she closed her eyes she saw visions of Kyen trapped in the arena, forced to fight for his life. Exhaustion made her thoughts slow and sounds muffled, but no matter what, sleep wouldn't come.

She started strolling along the busy street, stopping now and again to look at the stalls that lined the road, filled to the brim with tacky figures and plaques with names of prominent fighters.

The streets were closely packed and Basic mingled with Huttese, Twi'leki, Shyriiwook to create a nigh incomprehensible babble. There was no standard on Loovria, no species lifted above the others; all that this place required was a menacing vibe that put Sinead on edge.

She was about to leave when something caught her eyes and she elbowed her way to a stall nearly hidden under a half-collapsed awning, where she found a small Mandalorian doll made of plasteel and threadbare fabric, barely bigger than the palm of her hand. A grin spread across her face and she didn't mind paying the glowering seller more credits than it was worth.

With the doll safely tucked in her pocket, she turned back towards the ship when a sudden altercation slowed the traffic to a halt; A Weequay bumped into a Toydarian who dropped a tray filled with haroun bread which scattered on the dirty ground, and she watched their screaming match while waiting for the crowd to thin.

Suddenly, there was a prickling at the back of her neck, an uneasy feeling spreading through her body and when she looked up she spotted a Neimoidian watching her from a small table outside a café. Behind him, a massive Wookiee watched her with cold eyes. The Neimoidian lifted a long bony finger and beckoned her over. Her eyes flickered briefly to the Wookiee. Was he a bounty hunter? Had someone recognized her?

Another beckoning, this one more insistent. The orange eyes were the only color on the Neimoidian with most of his grey body hidden by a black robe.

Making a decision, Sinead squared her shoulders and crossed the road to the café. The Wookiee was big and strong, but if it came to a chase maybe she could evade him long enough to get back to the ship.

The Neimoidian smiled as she approached and spread his arms in a welcoming gesture. "I am glad you would join me. Please take a seat." He gestured to a chair on the other side of the small table.

She eyed him warily before sitting down. Whenever he moved, a smell of pungent perfume filled the air.

"I thank you for indulging an old man." The Neimoidian folded his hands across his stomach. "My name is Duiy Rundu."

Sinead placed her hand palm down on the table. "I'm Zan Forr. A pleasure to meet you."

"Can I offer you anything to drink? The membrosia here is a particular favorite of mine."

She weighed her options in her head, wondering if offending him by declining was worth it. "Thank you."

Rundu snapped his fingers and a waitress materialized with a tray and a glass of a clear amber liquid which she carefully placed in front of Sinead before retreating.

Sinead made a big show out of taking a sip of the drink, making sure her mouth was closed tightly. "I assume you didn't call me over just to buy me a drink."

"Ah, right to business then. Very well. My people informed me that a ship had recently docked carrying a Mandalorian and his human companion. That is you, correct?"

She kept her face carefully neutral. "Yes."

"Wonderful. You see, I am in the business of sponsoring fighters in the ring, and when I heard a Mandalorian had landed on Loovria, I knew I had to meet this fabled warrior."

"As you can see, I'm not the Mandalorian."

"But you are his companion, no?"

"True." The word was out of Sinead's mouth before she had time to think it through.

"You are also here for the arena, I'm sure. Fighters flock here every day to test their mettle in the pit and few ever make it very far. I want to propose a deal to you; with my sponsorship, he will go much further than he ever could as an independent. With my backing, he could become the next champion."

"You haven't even seen him fight."

"The Mandalorians' bloodlust is infamous across the galaxy. If he has even half of that savagery, he will go far. We haven't had a Mandalorian champion in decades. They are exceedingly rare, are they not?"

Sinead nodded slowly, struggling to keep the scowl off her face. In the time she'd known Mando he'd been short-tempered, quiet, and grumpy but not exactly bloodthirsty, but of course, she didn't know him that well. When it came to his past, he was even more tight-lipped than her.

"May I ask where you found such a specimen? I must admit, I have searched for a Mandalorian for quite some time without luck."

The lie formed in her brain without much prompting. "Found him wandering Tatooine. Convinced him to join me."

"A shame there are so few of them left. They are worth their weight in credits."

"Right." Her hands clenched into fists under the table. "I have to talk to the Mandalorian before-"

Rundu broke into hoarse laughter. "Why? I thought you were his handler?"

Sinead bared her teeth in a smile. "When dealing with a Mandalorian, I've found it easier to make them think they're the ones making the decisions."

"I guess that is one way of doing it." Rundu cleared his throat. "Tell you what, come to the fight tonight, and see how we do it here. I will send Feyvik to find you afterward." He gestured to the silent Wookiee.

"That sounds fair." Sinead got up, leaving her undrunk glass of membrosia on the table. "I'll see you after the fight." As she walked away, she felt Rundu's orange gaze follow her.

Once she was away from the arena, the crowd thinned out considerably and it didn't take long before she was back at the enormous docking bay that teemed with activity; a big freighter had just landed and hovercrafts zipped across the floor pulling long trains of cargo behind.

In a smaller and less noisy hangar, she found the Crest. Mando and the kid weren't there, and she had no way of opening the ship, so she had no choice but to make herself comfortable leaning against the landing gear. Here it was quieter but no less busy and she spent the time watching mechanics and pilots mill about the place. As time went on, her eyes became more and more unfocused until they drifted shut.

A hand closed around her shoulder and gave her a shake. Her eyes flew open and she stared wild-eyed at Mando, who snatched his hand back as if burned. He crouched in front of her with the kid in one arm.

"What time is it?" Sinead croaked and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Almost sundown," said Mando, helping her to her feet.

She leaned back against the ship and shook her head to rid her mind of cobwebs. There was something she had to talk to him about, she was sure of it.

"I asked around, but the locals didn't know anything, just said I should find the Arena."

"Right, I have to talk to you about that." Sinead stretched her sore legs. "Preferably inside." She cast a glance around the hangar at the people working or just standing around, wondering if any of them worked for Rundu.

Once they were inside the ship, Sinead told him about the Neimoidian and his proposal. While she spoke, the kid waddled back and forth between Sinead and Mando, making small discontented noises whenever they didn't give him enough attention.

"And he wants to meet after the fight?"

"Yeah. He thinks I'm your handler." She wrinkled her nose. "Look, I know how this sounds, but this is the fastest way-"

"That's what you said on Celvalara." Mando crossed his arms over his chest.

"And I was right. Sort of. We never would've gotten the lead if we hadn't gone to Luria."

"You sure there's no other way in?"

"I circled it three times and didn't find any, every door is guarded. Look, I'm not asking you to fight in the pit, just ... pretend for a little while, long enough 'till I can get into wherever they keep the records." She looked at him earnestly. "Please."

Mando sighed heavily, his voice modulator rustling. "Okay. But I have a bad feeling about this."

A smile broke out on Sinead's face. "Thank you."

He made a noncommittal grunt and turned to take stock of their rations.

Sinead felt small hands tug on her pants and she looked down to see the kid stare up at her. He cooed happily when she picked him up.

"I'm sorry we have to leave you again," she murmured and shifted him to her hip. "It won't take long. And you'll be safe in here."

The kid yawned, showing a row of tiny sharp teeth.

She pulled the little doll out of her pocket and held it up to the kid, whose eyes grew wide and he let out a chirrup.

Mando turned at the sound. "Where did you get that?"

"From the market. I think he likes it."

The kid examined the tiny helmet before hugging the doll close.

"Mhm."

It was dark when they finally left the docking bay and the atmosphere on the street had changed; excitement thrummed through the crowd, everyone moving like in a trance towards the arena. Every house glowed with light and sound spilled into the street. Sinead kept close to Mando whose intimidating figure parted the crowd like a firaxan shark hunting a school of fish. The air was filled with shouts and laughter.

Spotlights around the arena made the building look like it glowed from within, and great big banners flapped in the wind. Loovria's crest had been carved into the stone above the main entrance, and Sinead shuddered when she passed under it. Excitement had given way to feverish bloodlust so thick she could taste it on the tip of her tongue.

They followed the crowd up a long flight of stairs, thousands of feet thundering on the worn wood. It felt like the entire population of Strako had come out to see the fight. Mando squeezed himself through a gap in the throng of people, dragging Sinead with him and they ended up on a landing close to the top.

The Arena was impossibly big, much larger than from the outside and the air was filled with the sound of thousands of people finding their spots on the packed stands. The roof was open to the night and strong spotlights lit up the sand-covered floor. A band of mirrors ran all the way around the top of the arena.

The crowd surged forward and they with it until Sinead was pressed against the railing, Mando's armor digging into her side.

"Sorry," he mumbled and tried to shift away from her, but the press of the crowd made it impossible.

"That's alright." She kept her eyes on the arena floor below them. His presence beside her was a reminder that she wasn't completely alone.

On the lowest ring, Sinead spotted Rundu sitting in a small box being tended to by a servant. His bodyguard loomed behind him like a shadow. Further along, nearly opposite Sinead and Mando, there was a bigger box with heavy red curtains that were pulled aside to reveal a raised throne wrought with gold and rubies. Here a gaunt Pau'an overlooked the arena. Behind him were a row of guards. Beside the throne was-

Sinead grabbed Mando's wrist. "That's a Hutt!"

"I see him. I don't recognize him."

"Neither do I."

The Hutt sat on a bed of pillows where he could watch the coming fight with ease, his fat body glistened in the light.

"Still think this is a good idea?" said Mando into her ear.

"As long as we stay away from the Hutt, we should be fine."

Mando sighed, but whatever he was about to say was drowned out as a Nautolan stepped up on a raised podium above the golden box where a microphone rose from the ground.

"CITIZENS OF LOOVRIA-" His voice boomed through the arena- "VISITORS, DIGNITARIES, SPONSORS, OUR EMINENT LEADER." The Pau'an raised his hand to thunderous applause. "WELCOME TO THE ARENA. TWO WARRIORS WILL ENTER THE BATTLEGROUND, BUT WHO WILL STAND VICTORIOUS?"

The crowd surged forward again and pinned Sinead against the railing.

"OUR FIRST FIGHTER TONIGHT HAS COME ALL THE WAY FROM NAL-HUTTA, THE VERY PEARL OF THE HUTT EMPIRE." A small section of the arena floor descended and a Trandoshan came tearing up the sandy ramp, roaring loud enough to drown out the announcer. He wore a thick leather harness and carried a wicked vibro-sword and a small plasma-shield that glinted in the harsh light. "THE REAVER OF ULMATRA!

"ON THE OTHER SIDE, WE HAVE BORVAR 'THE YRRYK' GELL FIGHTING FOR THE GLORY OF LOOVRIA." The announcer was hardly done talking when the spectators exploded in cheers. Another section of the arena disappeared and a Besalisk walked slowly up the ramp, looking bored as he watched the Reaver approach. He reached behind and grabbed four electrostaves strapped to his back. They met in the middle of the arena.

"THEY'LL PROVE THEIR WORTH ON THE BLOODIED SAND, BUT ONLY ONE WILL LEAVE WITH A SHOT OF BECOMING THE TRUE CHAMPION."

The fighters stood a few feet from each other, trying to stare the other down. Gell turned his electrostaves on and twirled them in the air until they were nothing but a purple blur, and the Reaver let out a howl that sent a current of fear running down Sinead's spine.

"LET THE FIGHTING BEGIN!"

The echo still bounced between the walls when the Reaver threw himself at Gell with lightning speed, ducking under one electrostaff and raising his blade.

Gell struck down with another electrostaff and the Reaver had to lift his shield and sparks showered the two fighters when they met. The Reaver danced out of range of the twirling staffs and darted around the Besalisk, who turned to watch him with unblinking eyes.

A wild dance began where neither of the fighters could get close enough to the other to strike the killing blow; Gell's swirling electrostaves made sure that the Reaver couldn't attack and in turn, the Reaver flitted back and forth too quickly for the much slower Besalisk.

Sinead tasted bile at the back of her throat but couldn't tear her eyes away. The spectators pressed in from all sides and made it hard to breathe.

Gell caught the shield with a direct hit and it flew out of the Reaver's hand, skittering across the sand until it hit the wall of the arena with a loud crack. The Reaver ducked under one staff, and thrust up with his blade, cutting off one of the Besalisk's hands. The appendage fell to the sand still holding the electrostaff. Blood dripped from the stump.

It seemed like the entire arena held its breath.

"FIRST BLOOD HAS BEEN SPILLED," screamed the Nautolan and the spectators responded with a wall of sound that Sinead felt deep in her bones.

No one screamed louder than Gell, who struck out with all three remaining staffs and hit the Reaver in the chest; he flew through the air straight towards the stands. Just before he hit, he slammed into an invisible wall and tumbled down onto the sand. There was a strange shimmer of blue at the point of impact which gradually disappeared. A shield. Smart.

The crowd screamed as one beast, but the howl was strangely dulled for Sinead.

The Reaver got to his feet and darted to the side just in time to avoid an electrostaff to the chest again. He sprinted to where his fallen blade lay in the sand and picked it up, jumping aside to narrowly avoid another attack. Gell howled in fury and pain as he forced the Reaver back against the arena wall. Chants of 'kill him' could be heard among the screams.

Sparks flew through the air as one electrostaff hit the wall. The Reaver feigned to one side and as Gell lifted the three remaining staffs to block him, Reaver shot forward and his blade caught the light before it plunged into Gell's shoulder. Gell screamed as the Reaver tore the blade out in a spray of blood and sliced the Besalisk across the chest.

Sinead was stiff with horror as she watched the Reaver drag Gell into the center of the arena. She tried to breathe but her chest constricted painfully as the smell of blood reached the higher stands.

If Kyen had been there, then ...

The Reaver lifted his head and howled, the sound reverberating between the walls, and he was answered by the frenzied audience.

The Pau'an stood slowly from his throne, leaning heavily on a cane as he stepped up to the railing.

A hush went through the crowd as everyone leaned forward to get a better look.

He waited until there was absolute silence, then, with an air of gravitas shook his head once.

The crowd exploded in a deafening scream.

The Reaver turned to Gell and brought his blade down on the Besalisk's neck, chopping his head clean off. It rolled in the sand leaving behind a trail of blood.

Sinead felt hollow. The announcer talked but she didn't register the words. She watched numbly as attendants appeared from trap doors and dragged the lifeless body off the arena floor. After the Reaver was escorted away as well, another fight began, this time between a human and a nexu. She watched the Pau'an sit passively on his throne.

"Sinead?"

A hand touched her shoulder and she jumped.

"It's done," Mando said, gesturing to the arena that was now painted red with blood.

She nodded slowly and tried to clear her head.

The crowd swarmed to the exits like ants clamoring to get out and this somehow felt worse than before, being trapped between so many bodies, the smell of sweat and blood mingling in the air.

A hand shot through the crowd and grabbed her wrist, pulling her out of the mess of people and into the still packed staircase. Mando looked down at her. "Let's get out of here."

She cleared her throat. "Rundu wanted to meet us, or you more specifically. Said he'd find us after the fight."

"In this crowd?"

"He knew when we landed in Strako, I'm sure he has a way of finding us."

"I don't like this."

Neither did Sinead, but the desire to find Kyen easily overrode any consternation she was feeling. "Just let me do the talking, alright?"

They had made it to the bottom landing when Rundu's Wookiee appeared in the throng of people, standing at least a foot taller than everyone else. When he spotted them, he growled and motioned for them to follow him down a wide corridor less crowded and hung with gold mosaics that depicted raging battles with twinkling rubies as blood.

The Wookiee reached a red curtain and pulled it aside to reveal a long room that curved around the arena, where sponsors sat in soft chairs, being waited on by demure servants. The lighting in here was different, softer, and more intimate. When the Wookiee dropped the curtain behind them, the sound of the arena became a soft murmur.

As they walked between the wealthy patrons who pointedly ignored them, Sinead tried to rid herself of the remaining fear that clung to her heart and made it hard to breathe. She focused on Mando's presence beside her, letting his agitation anchor her to the moment.

On the opposite end of the room, there was a row of alcoves set into the wall, and she spotted Rundu sitting alone in one, sipping out of a golden goblet. He stood up when he saw them approach.

"Ah, Madame Farr, I am glad to see you again. I see you brought your Mandalorian."

_Don't say anything, don't say anything, don't say anything. _She hoped if she thought it loud enough, Mando would somehow hear it.

"Nice to see you again," Sinead said, forcing her voice to stay even, and sat down in one of the plush chairs. After a tense moment, Mando sat down beside her, his body stiff.

"I hope you enjoyed the best of what Loovria can offer. It was quite the show, was it not?"

Sinead forced a smile. "It sure was."

Rundu grabbed his goblet and twirled the stem between his fingers. "Have you done any more considerations as to whether or not this is the place for you? As you saw before, the Strako Arena offers far more glory and challenge than any other arena in the galaxy. Making it to the top not only requires brute force but skill in battle and cunning." He looked at Mando with praising eyes. "I believe a Mandalorian is up for the task."

"Before we say yes to anything," Sinead said, before Mando had a chance to react, "I was wondering if we could get a tour of the arena? I've already seen the splendor from the stands, so I'd rather like to see what you have hidden away."

Rundu chuckled, a sound that made Sinead's skin crawl. "My dear, I'm afraid that is not possible. I don't own the arena, I simply represent the fighters."

"Who's the owner then?"

"That would be the Master, the great Vylum Kemet, but he doesn't like the public poking around. If you were to become a fighter though, you will get many perks."

Sinead nodded and chanced a glance at Mando, who stared straight ahead, still as a statue. "Before we make a decision, there's something I've been wondering ..."

"Go on."

"I heard a rumor about this place, that your fighters weren't ... exactly free to decline the fight if you know what I mean." Sinead's stomach flipped as she said it.

The effect was immediate; Rundu gasped, and the Wookiee who had stepped back to stand beside him growled so deep that she could feel the vibrations in the air. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mando tense up, his hand inching towards his blaster.

"Loovria outlawed such practices years ago, I assure you, and I will not tolerate such slander." Rundu gestured angrily at her and nearly knocked over his goblet. "This is not the Outer Rim where disorder and anarchy rules. Here we follow the New Republic's laws, you are welcome to ask anyone."

He made it sound like it was ancient history when the New Republic only came to power five years ago.

She held up her hands. "Just curious."

"Curiosity is a dangerous thing to indulge," Rundu said. "Take care it doesn't lead you somewhere you aren't supposed to go."

The air was thick with tension. Sinead cleared her throat. "If that is all, I believe my companion and I'll return to our ship. We have a lot to discuss." And she honestly wasn't sure if Mando was going to last much longer.

Rundu made a face, he had clearly expected an answer that moment. "That is understandable, I suppose. Please, don't hesitate to call on me if you have any questions. I promise you'll find much fame in Strako."


	14. Cages

**A/N: Hello, my lovely readers, I bestow upon you this next chapter. Hope you like it.**

Chapter 14 - Cages

One day later Sinead was back at the arena, this time dressed in a servant's robe she had stolen from the arena's laundry. The flimsy thing reminded her too much of the ridiculous outfit she had to wear on Sriluur, all sheer fabric that clung to her body, soft and itchy at the same time and offering about as much protection as wet tissue paper.

The servants' door was hidden behind a fence and an old watch house. It was flanked by two guards who stared blankly out into the air. As she neared, she relaxed her shoulders and tried to look like she truly belonged there, that she'd gone through this entrance many times and just wanted to do her job in peace. Her hand found its way into her pocket and touched the comlink to reassure her that it was still there.

She passed the guards, ignoring them as much as they ignored her, and was inside the arena which seemed unnaturally quiet in comparison to the day before. Her robe rustled as she moved down along the curved corridor. Once she was sure she was alone, she fished the comlink out.

"Hey. I'm inside."

_"Any problems?" _Mando sounded slightly warbled through the comlink. There was a tight quality to his voice, and she could see him in her mind's eye pacing back and forth in the Crest.

"Nope. The guards didn't even give me a second glance."

_"Good. Remember, you're there to find out where they keep the record, then get out."_

"Uh-huh." She glanced down the corridor, making sure she was alone. "Next time you get to sneak in while I wait in safety."

_"The robes wouldn't fit."_

Sinead grinned at the comlink. "Was that a joke?"

_"Mhm. Stay on guard."_

"Right. It looked like they didn't allow any access to the top level, might as well start there. Keep you posted." She dropped the comlink back in her pocket.

It was clear that this was a part of the arena the average guest wasn't supposed to see; the stone walls were bare and the only light came from flickering lightbulbs hanging from the low ceiling. It smelled vaguely of dust and metal and she could hear the muffled sound of people talking somewhere nearby. Occasionally a servant would hurry past, not paying attention to Sinead. The beige robe seemed to make her invisible to everyone.

Through an archway, she found a large staircase that wound from below and disappeared above her in a dizzying circle. In the middle, there was a small platform and a pulley-system to hoist heavy crates up to the upper levels. Three boxes filled with bottles were in the middle of being raised and the glass tinkled whenever the platform shook.

It didn't take long getting to the top floor. The only servant she met on the way was too busy arranging delicate glasses on a tray to give Sinead a second look.

The entrance to the staircase was hidden by a metal panel which swung out when she gave it the lightest push. Behind it was a wide corridor, like the ones on the lower levels, except this one was so richly furnished that for a moment Sinead thought she was back on Sriluur; a thick red carpet ran from wall to wall and gold tablets decorated the walls, one of which served to hide the servant stairs. Narrow tables had been pushed against the wall, carrying elaborate flower arrangements that had certainly not come from the fetid wasteland surrounding Strako. All in all, it was about the ugliest place she had ever seen.

Instead of open arches that led to the stands, there were gilded doors inlaid with rubies and a keypad was set into the wall beside every single one.

"Mando ..." she whispered into the comlink.

_"What is it?" _His tinny voice sounded worried.

"I'm on the top floor and there are doors here, but they're all locked with a keypad. If I were to hide records of all the people that went through here, it'd definitely be behind one of these. I'll look around after the code."

_"Anyone spotted you?"_

"Relax. Nobody ever notices a servant, not even the other servants."

"_Don't take any unnecessary risks."_

"Aw, you know me, when have I ever taken unnecessary-"

The door to her right suddenly opened, and she nearly dropped the comlink when she saw who it was: Duiy Rundu and a human woman came out into the hall, deep in conversation. Two Wookiees, one of them Rundu's bodyguard, trailed behind.

Her body tensed, ready to bolt until rational thought overrode instinct and she bowed deeply as they approached, praying that her hair, worn down instead of in a braid, was enough to hide her face.

Nundu and the human woman continued their conversation as they passed her, neither ever noticing she was there. Between strands of hair, Sinead saw Rundu's Wookiee stop for a split second and sniff the air. Her knees went weak with fear. The Wookiee huffed and then went to follow the others down the hall.

As soon as they were out of sight she sprinted to the hidden staircase and jumped through the opening. When she was sure there was no one nearby, she fumbled the comlink out of her pocket. "Mando, I'm here."

_"Haar'chak at haran! What happened?!"_ Mando's voice exploded from the small device.

"Saw our mutual friend but he didn't recognize me."

_"Where're you now?"_

"On the servant stairs. There's a basement I wanna check out before I leave."

_"Even if Rundu didn't spot you the first time, doesn't mean he won't if he sees you again. Do not push your luck."_

She blew a strand of hair out of her face. "He doesn't seem the type to hang out in the cellar, but I'll be careful."

_"Good."_

"You're not used to sitting on the sideline, are you?"

He grunted,_ "Get going."_

Sinead rolled her eyes as she stuffed the comlink away, trying to ignore her still racing heart.

After she had made it underground, a wide door on the first landing slammed open and two servants bustled past her carrying an overflowing fruit platter between them. As the door swung shut, Sinead got a glimpse of a kitchen, the walls dark with soot and a pillar of steam rising from one of the giant cauldrons that hung over an open flame.

She walked on. The temperature dropped as she made it further down and a harsh pungent smell permeated the air, making her eyes water. Shouts and strange noises drifted up from below. It was clear that the care with which the arena had been built didn't extend to the underground level, where the wall was made of rough-hewn stone that shone with moisture.

She reached the end, the wooden stair giving way for an uneven stone floor that radiated cold. The smell was even stronger down here and she coughed, taking care to only breathe through her mouth. Keeping close to the wall, she peered around a corner and accidentally sucked in a deep breath.

A giant chamber stretched out in front of her, directly underneath the arena. Dark-clothed figures ran back and forth between giant cages, hauling buckets of feed or heavy chains. Nearly every cage was occupied by a creature whose scream, howl, snarl, or roar filled the air. She saw Akk dogs, Nexus, Acklays, and even a Rancor that was in the middle of being wrestled into a cage by eleven workers. Sinead's stomach turned when she saw one of them bring an electro-whip down on the creature's back. There were a handful of guards down here, who all stared blankly into the air, probably just waiting for their shift to end.

The ceiling was a mess of cables and platforms that could be worked from a massive control panel on the opposite side of the room. So that was how they sent the fighters up on the stage above. Next to the console, a holoprojector threw an image up of the arena which was empty at the moment.

It looked like there were three ways out of there: the stairs, an open tunnel close to the control panel, or a small door set into the wall a few meters from her. She waited until no one was looking her way, then quickly stole across the ground. The door had been left ajar, throwing a pale line of light across the floor.

She nudged the door with her foot and stuck her head inside, glancing around the empty room. It looked like a mix between an armory and an office if the desk loaded with datapads and flimsi was anything to go by. Underneath the stink of animal, the room smelled of sweat and bitter caf. A big map of the arena hung on the wall behind it, showing every level of the place with colored arrows going back and forth.

"Mando," she whispered into the comlink as she approached the map. "I think I've found the … the security office or something like that. There's a complete map of the arena, guard rotations, everything."

"_Anything useful?"_

"Hold on." She looked at the top floor. "There's a room marked as the 'repository'. If there's a record, it's got to be in there."

"_We still don't have a way in."_

"You don't have to be so negative. I'm working on it." She turned to the desk and rifled through a stack of flimsi.

_"What are you looking for?"_

"Maybe whoever is in charge of security wrote the codes down somewhere."

_"Are you serious?"_

"This office is a mess, someone left the door open, and I haven't been discovered yet. Clearly, security isn't their strong suit. Aha!" She pulled a scrap of flimsi out from under a cracked datapad. "The codes for every single keypad in the building." She didn't even try to keep the smugness out of her voice.

_"You're ... you're serious?"_

"It's like they're asking to be robbed." She took a moment to memorize the code for the repository. "Okay, I got it. Meet you outside."

"_Be careful."_

"When am I not? Wait- hold on …" she carefully tucked a datapad out from under a mountain of flimsi. "That's interesting …"

"_What is?"_

"I found the guard roster. Says here there are only two guards on duty on the top-level during fights. I guess they're short-staffed."

"_That's very careless."_

"Lucky break for us."

"_Mhm."_

"I think that was everything. Going now." She replaced the comlink in her pocket and snuck out of the office when the coast was clear, leaving the door ajar behind her. The workers had managed to get the Rancor into a cage where it walked around a tight circle, snarling at whoever came too close.

The staircase towards the surface was in sight when a bloodcurdling scream cut through the noise of the beasts. Sinead froze and looked around, but it was clear that it hadn't come from any of the workers, who hadn't faltered.

It had come from the tunnel, she was sure of that. Without even realizing, she had begun creeping around the room, keeping close to the wall and behind cover whenever possible.

The tunnel turned out to be only a few meters deep and ended in a turn. She peeked around the corner and the sight that met her turned her blood to ice;

Rows and rows of cages filled most of the chamber, packed tightly with sentients dressed in grey rags. The air was heavy with the stink of sewage and misery and the only source of light came from flickering lanterns hanging from the low ceiling. She watched wide-eyed as two guards dragged an unconscious human across the floor and threw her into an overflowing cage. Her whimpering when she hit the ground made Sinead's stomach turn and unbidden memories flooded to the surface.

So slavery wasn't as forbidden as Rundu wanted her to think.

She crept forwards, keeping close to the ground.

A male Togruta who sat slumped in one corner looked up with a start and their eyes met. For one second, Sinead thought he was about to call for the guards when he stuck a filthy hand out through the bars and motioned for her to come closer. She did so, slowly and silently.

"I've never seen you lot down in the undercroft," the Togruta whispered, his eyes taking in her now dirty robe. "You aren't a servant, are you?"

"Will you call the guards if I say no?" Sinead whispered back. The others watched her out of the corner of their eyes.

The Togruta spat on the ground. "If you're not a servant, who are you?"

"That's not important right now." She looked over the huddled slaves. "Are you ... are you fighters?"

The Togruta scoffed. "Most of us can barely walk. They had us work in a refinery until it exploded. Don't know where they're sending us."

"When?"

The Togruta gave her a look. "Why do you want to know?"

"I wanna help you."

"Why?"

Sinead grit her teeth. "Let's just say I have no love for slavers."

"I overheard one of the guards saying they'll move us tomorrow after the fight."

Shit. That complicated matters.

"Tomorrow. I can work with that."

The Togruta pressed against the bars, giving her an unconvinced look. "How are _you_ gonna take out the guards? They're not gonna just let us walk out of here."

"I'll figure something out. Besides-" she stopped when a guard went past on the other side of the cage. "I'm not alone."

"Hope you have an army, otherwise it won't do you any good."

"Just ... see if you can get the word out, find out who's able to fight. I'll handle the rest."

The Togruta huffed out a laugh. "Sure thing. Looking forward to sharing a cage with you."

She ignored him. "I'm looking for someone who might've come through here, maybe some years ago, his name is Kyen Beck."

"Doesn't ring any bells."

She gritted her teeth. "Ask around, okay? See if anyone has heard of him, knows what happened.

"All right." He bent his head down as another guard passed. "If you keep going, you'll get to the old sewer system and that'll take you all the way through the city. That's how they got us here without anyone knowing."

Sinead eyed the surrounding room; it looked like it was built the same time as the rest of the arena, but support pillars of durasteel kept the sagging ceiling from caving in. "I take it this isn't standard procedure?"

"Have you seen Strako? They never hid what they did, not until the New Republic came along. The politicians are so busy pretending to have the moral high ground that they don't bother checking that their laws are being followed. They don't care. Before, at least the rest of the galaxy knew what kind of place this really is."

"I promise you we're gonna change that. What's your name?"

The Togruta studied her for a long moment. "I'm Belan."

"Just hang tight, Belan. Okay?"

He bared his sharp teeth in a grin. "Whatever you say."

The darkness worked in Sinead's favor as she scurried from cover to cover, hiding behind durasteel boxes or an overfilled caged. The slaves watched her with dull eyes and none of them alerted the guards to her presence. They were quiet except for the odd whispered conversation that cut off as soon as she neared. The silence unnerved her; Sriluur had been hell, but sometimes when she ate dinner with one of the families or snuck off with Kyen it had felt almost ... normal. It was like these souls had been zapped of all energy and were now just waiting like banthas to the slaughter.

The entrance to the sewer had been blocked with a badly fitted grate and there was just enough room for Sinead to wriggle through a gap, though not without leaving slimy streaks across her robe. The sewer was dry, but years of use had left an inch-thick coating of sludge that squelched as she moved through the semi-darkness. She nearly gagged at the harsh smell. Smaller pipes led away from the main one but none of them were big enough for a human to crawl through. A rodent skittered across the ground just a few meters from her.

She passed an abandoned droid head that had somehow found its way down here and came to an intersection, where a small arrow had been carved into the stone at eye height, and she followed it through what soon turned out to be a labyrinth of tunnels that spanned the entire city.

Her hand brushed the comlink in her pocket and she pulled it out.

"Mando?" she said, making sure to breathe through her mouth as she passed a truly pungent pile of sodden fabric that blocked one of the smaller pipes.

_"Finally! Where are you? You should've been out by now!"_

"I'm in the sewers."

She could sense his confusion through the comlink. _"_Why_ are you in the sewers?"_

"It's a long story. Tell you later."

Mando sighed. _"Fine. We'll talk at the ship."_

Rounding a corner, she spotted pale sunlight ahead, and emerged, breathing weakly and covered in sludge, at the bottom of a dried-out canal, the wall too high and slippery to scale. The light felt like needles in her eyes and her robe had been reduced to a filthy, tattered mess.

She walked until she came to a rusty ladder bolted into the wall, the metal groaning when she grabbed hold of the first rung, leaving muddy spots behind as she slowly made her way up into the city.


	15. Best Laid Plans

**A/N: Hi guys. Sorry it took a bit longer to get this chapter out. I wanted to post it last Friday, but I had to help my parents move and then I stepped on a bee so you can imagine the kind of stress I'm under. But here it is, finally.**

Chapter 15 – Best Laid Plans

"You remember the plan?"

Sinead suppressed a deep sigh. "Yes, Mando, I remember the plan. I was the one who came up with it."

"There are a lot of people here."

"That makes blending in with the crowd easier. Uh, for me at least."

Mando grunted and moved away from a human woman who had leaned too far into his personal space. They had waited in line for the arena for what felt like hours, standing in the pale yet sharp Loovrian sun.

The plan depended on Mando finding a seat as close to the Undercroft as he could, while Sinead would wait on the upper levels until the fighting was underway. Mando hadn't been happy when she told him that he had to stay back yet again, but if she was caught, she could conceivably talk her way out of it. Mando, not so much. It would've been easier if she'd still had her servant robe, but that had been rendered unusable after her walk through the sewer.

"The kid didn't like us leaving him again," Sinead said.

"No."

"We should get a nanny droid or something."

"No droids," he barked out, startling the people around them.

Sinead gave him a look. "You never told me why you hate droids so much. There's gotta be a story there."

Mando was quiet for so long that she thought he'd never answer. "Not here. Later." He pointedly looked everywhere but her.

Smiling to herself, she stayed quiet as she didn't want to press her luck. It wasn't every day she had a chance of learning something new about her silent companion.

An excited hum went through the crowd as the line started moving.

"Wonder who's fighting tonight," Sinead said as they inched along.

Mando made a sound of disgust.

"You know, you really surprise me. I thought Mandalorians were all about the glory of battle."

"Not like this. There's no glory here. Only blood."

The entrance came into view with banners fluttering in the wind.

"One could argue that that's the case with all combat. We've both seen our fair share of action, and none of it's been pretty."

"It's not the same. We fight for survival or to settle disputes, not for the entertainment of others. There honor in the act of battle, not meaningless death."

She watched him out of the corner of her eyes. There was a sort of terrifying beauty to him when he fought. "It doesn't get more meaningless than this." Images of Kyen alone deep beneath the arena threatened to topple her, and she forced herself to focus on a grubby Dug next in line.

Once they passed under the entrance, Mando leaned close to her. "Don't take any chances, okay? If anything feels off, you get out of there, and we'll find another way."

Sinead pretended to stretch and cast a quick look around; the guards seemed as inert as last time. "Our friends down below don't have that kind of time."

"That won't matter if you get caught."

"Fortunately, I don't plan on getting caught."

Mando made an exasperated noise, but whatever retort he planned was drowned out by a loud voice.

"Madame Farr!"

Sinead grabbed Mando's wrist before he could draw his blaster, trying to make the movement seem natural to the confused Rundu, who watched from the doorway to a less crowded corridor. Two guards flanked each side of the opening to keep the rabble out. Feyvik, his Wookiee bodyguard, pushed his way through the crowd, showing the Dug out of the way before motioning for them to follow.

"Please, keep it cool," she hissed to Mando as she let him go and followed Feyvik to where Rundu greeted them with open arms.

"Madame Farr, I thought it was you. And ..." His large eyes flickered to Mando. "Your Mandalorian. I am so glad to see that you've decided to give Strako a chance. I assume that's why you're here?"

Sinead shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "You're getting ahead of yourself, Master Rundu. When we come to a decision, I promise you, you'll be the first to know."

A shadow fell across Rundu's face for a moment. "I see."

She felt Mando shift beside her, felt the anger and unease building. "We figured since we're already here, why not watch another fight. Indulge in all that Strako has to offer."

Rundu's wide mouth split in a smile that did not reach his eyes. "Indeed. Please, do me the honor and accompany me in my private box. I assure you that the view is unparalleled. You do not have to tolerate the-" he cast a disdainful look at the masses behind Sinead and Mando- "common folk."

"I ..." her brain spun in circles, trying to find a way out.

"Unless, of course, you have another appointment?"

"We'll be honored to," Sinead said, feeling Mando seethe beside her. "You gentlemen can go ahead, I have some private business I need to take care of before the fighting starts." She smiled as innocently as possible. "Will you point me in the direction of the refreshers, perhaps?"

Rundu's lips curled in disgust. "Ah, yes, I suppose that has to ... be dealt with. Down that way, you'll find the … ah, area. Feyvik can-" he stopped when his eyes fell on the Mandalorian, and for one moment, he seemed nervous. "I'm sure you can find us when you are done. Box number three, and if anyone stops you, just say you are my personal guest."

"Thank you, Master Rundu." As she passed Mando, she pressed the back of her hand against his, hoping that he could find some way to stall. Once she came back, they just had to improvise. She had to do this. It wasn't only Kyen's life at stake.

She went down the corridor that Rundu had so helpfully pointed out until she came to the first staircase packed tightly with the citizens of Strako come to see another bloodbath. There was no time to waste, so she rudely shoved people out of the way as she took the stairs two at a time.

Up in the nosebleeds, the spectators were of a very different caliber; mean-looking sentients were pressed together tightly, and a fight had already broken out between two Trandoshans. She waited for the guards to jump in to stop it before scurrying through to the servant stairs, the opening only covered with a ratty curtain.

The upper landings were deserted, but Sinead could hear noise further down as servants hurried up and down the steps carrying trays of food or bottles of liquor that had cost more than the Razor Crest.

She kept looking back over her shoulder, sure she would see Feyvik come barreling towards her.

No one followed her. When she made it to the top, she pressed a hand against the hidden door and cracked it open, making sure that the corridor on the other side was empty. The bright lights felt like needles in her eyes after the gloomy stairwell. She waited until two shadows appeared where the corridor bent and quickly pushed the door shut, listening to their footsteps as they passed her.

Every second that ticked by felt like a weight added to her shoulders. When she was done, she had to come up with a killer excuse for why she'd been gone for so long.

Once the guards' footsteps had faded, she pushed open the panel and slid onto the floor, waiting just a moment before hurrying down the corridor. She kept close to the wall while counting the identical doors under her breath until she reached the right one. Or she hoped this was the right one. Even if it was the repository, there was no guarantee that the records were in there. There was no guarantee there were any records at all, or that Kyen was on them.

At last, she found it, as gold and garish as all the others. With hands lightly shaking, she pressed the code into the keypad and waited, glancing down the corridor every other second. The moment seemed to go on until there was a faint click, and she took a deep breath before pushing the door open. This was the most unpredictable part of a very risky plan; if anyone were in there, she'd have to find an excuse, and fast.

No voice raised in alarm, no blasters aimed her way. The repository, if you could call it that, was empty.

The opposite wall was made entirely out of a single pane of glass, what she'd thought was mirrors down in the stands. Her stomach flipped when she saw that most of the arena was filling up quickly.

The rest of the room looked more like an armory; shelves displaying blasters, blades, flails, and strange devices lined the walls. A wicked sword made from a glowing metal cast strange lights across the floor.

There was a desk in one end and a plush chair. Behind it, a safe.

"Finally," she mumbled and skirted around the desk. The safe was set into the wall, a big clunky thing with a small keypad and three yellow lights above it.

She punched the code for the room. The safe beeped, and one of the lights turned red.

"Fuck!" She scrubbed her mouth with her hand.

Something caught her eye; on the shelf above, a razor-sharp metal disk with a hole in the middle was propped up on a velvet pillow. A number had been lasered into the metal.

She punched it in, ignoring how her hands shook, and the second light turned red.

"You've got to be kidding me!" She whirled around, repressing the urge to kick something. Maybe if someone was stupid enough to write down the access code for the room, then …

The desk was empty, the polished surface gleamed in the light. Sinead grabbed one of the four drawers and pulled. It didn't budge.

A snarl forced its way out as she sat down and grabbed the knob with both hands, pulling at it while using her legs as leverage, but the drawer remained stubbornly shut.

Doubt entered her mind like small seeds blooming into panic; this was a stupid plan. There was no guarantee that the records even existed. There was no time to examine any other place, there wasn't even time to check any other rooms. She should've gone with Mando and freed the slaves, waiting until the dust settled and then gone back to find the records.

The lock snapped with a loud crack, and she flew backward, scattering the contents of the drawer all over the floor.

She got to her knees and shifted through the useless knickknacks, her movement becoming more and more frantic.

Her hand closed around the knob for the next drawer, ready to take the entire desk apart if she had to when a small wire running along the empty place where the drawer used to sit caught her attention. She grabbed one end and pulled it out, examining the frayed ends where it had snapped.

Realization hit like a punch to the gut.

An alarm. And she'd just tripped it.

The door burst open, and two guards tumbled inside, waving their blasters wildly around the room. They noticed the desk.

"Who's there?" Shouted the taller one, keeping close to the door. The other guard hit the ground.

Sinead swore under her breath and tried making herself as small as possible. The only means of escape lay behind the guards. She still had her blaster strapped to her side, but if the alarm she'd tripped and the shouting guards hadn't already attracted all the attention, blasterfire definitely would do the trick.

"Don't shoot!" She called out, and a blaster bolt immediately shot over her. It pulverized a part of the wall behind her, collapsing a shelf and sending weapons raining down around her.

"You ... who are you? What are you doing here?" The tallest guard took another step closer to the table, his voice quivering. "Show yourself!"

She lifted both hands over the table, and another blaster bolt fizzed by.

"Easy!" She yelled, pressing her hands to her chest. "I'm coming out!"

Slowly, she got to her feet while keeping her hands in clear view of the guards, one of them still lying on the floor.

"Get up," the tall guard snapped, making the other guard scramble to his feet. "Who're you?"

Sinead wet her lips. "M-my name is Zan Forr. I work for Duiy Rundu."

"The Neimoidian?" The short guard said, earning an angry glare.

"Area's off-limits. What're you doing here?"

"I didn't know, I swear! Rundu sent me up here, told me to find some information for him. I didn't know I wasn't allowed!" She stared wide-eyed at the tallest guard who seemed to be the one calling the shots.

"How'd you get in here?"

"The door was open."

He scoffed. "No, it wasn't! I checked it myself."

"I swear, I'm telling the truth."

"Sure you are. Let's take you downstairs, see what the Master thinks about you." He gestured to the other guard. "Your blaster, throw it here. Keep your hands where I can see them."

Her hand started inching towards her blaster, eyes never leaving the two guards. There had to be a way out of here.

Suddenly, a voice exploded behind her. "WELCOME, CITIZENS OF LOOVRIA-"

The guards jumped. Sinead drew her blaster and shot the nearest guard, who screamed as he fell to the floor. She threw herself behind the desk, narrowly missing a volley of blasterfire. The desk shook with every hit, and the air filled with the smell of ozone and burning wood.

The big glass pane shattered, sending a shower of shards into the arena. She could hear distant screams.

Something metallic glinted under an old flail, and she shifted it aside, finding a slim dagger intricately woven with gold and green gemstones; the blade was as sharp as a Gungan's wit, but maybe that didn't matter.

The desk groaned and tipped to the side.

Staying crouched, she leaned out from the desk and threw the dagger. The guard's eyes followed the object as it sailed past him, and Sinead shot, hitting him in the shoulder. He crumbled to the floor, and she jumped over the ruined desk and ran outside, leaving him to moan in pain on the floor.

The corridor was empty, but it wouldn't be for long.

She reached the hidden door and yanked it open; behind it, a surprised guard nearly dropped his blaster.

"Wha-"

She crashed into him and sent him toppling down the stairs, narrowly avoiding getting dragged with him. It sounded like a rockslide, his armor the only thing saving him from a fractured skull. He came to a standstill on a small landing where he lay unmoving as Sinead rushed past him.

Guards started pouring out on the landing above her, and a blaster bolt fizzed over her head, destroying a tablet hanging on the wall. A metal fragment sliced her upper arm, but adrenaline dulled the pain.

At last, she made it to the ground level and shot under the arch. She turned and slammed directly into what felt like a brick wall. Strong hands grabbed her shoulders to steady her. She looked up and saw Mando.

"Sinead, what the-"

"Run!" She gasped out just as the first guard made it to the ground.

Mando whirled her out of the way of a blaster bolt, and she used the momentum to grab his wrist and pull him down the corridor. The nearest exit was close.

Two guards jumped out from a doorway, and Mando sped up, smashing into one of them like a mudhorn, who knocked into the other guard and toppling them both.

The entrance was visible behind a line of guards, who stood like an impenetrable wall between them and freedom. They were forced to turn, but guards blocked the way back.

One of the guards shot first, and Mando whirled out of the way, pulling his blaster in a fluid motion.

A hand closed around Sinead's arm, and she kicked back, hearing a small whimper as the guard let go.

She dodged another hand and skirted around her attacker.

It seemed like the flow of guards were never-ending. Whenever one fell, two took their place.

Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet disappeared. A strong smell of petrichor filled her nose, mouth, lungs. A great force contorted her body, lifting her into the air.

A hush went through the crowd, and the guards fell away.

Mando turned.

The ring of onlookers parted silently, and the Master stepped into view.

Even by Pau'an standards, he looked ancient; his gaunt body, hidden beneath a black robe that shimmered with red, was stooped, and his hollow cheeks made him look skeleton-like. He walked with confidence, his staff lifted into the air and aimed directly at Sinead. Yellow light writhed around the tip.

A force pike.

"What do we have here?" His red eyes scanned the carnage.

Mando moved, and a dozen blasters were trained on him.

The Master lifted a hand. "Stand down. There has already been enough senseless death."

Reluctantly, the blasters were lowered.

"I am terribly sorry about this," the Master said, "but my guards tend to react … harshly when someone breaks into my quarters. I'm sure you understand."

Mando's shoulders heaved with every breath.

"I would like to let go of your friend, but first, you have to surrender your blaster. For your own safety, as well as ours."

Mando looked at Sinead. His hand clenched around the blaster.

"Nn-"

Pain exploded along her spine, behind her eyes.

Mando's blaster hit the ground with a clatter, and the pain faded away. A guard broke rank and snatched the weapon up from the floor before retreating to safety.

"Thank you."

Sinead was lowered onto the ground, and as soon as the strange force disappeared, her knees buckled.

Mando caught her before she hit the ground and lifted her to her feet. She felt like she just might keep going, floating gently up in the air. He held a strong arm around her shoulders.

"Now, we can have a civilized discussion." The Master bared his teeth in a smile. "Ovinik?"

"Yes, Master?" A guard stepped out of the crowd.

"Please guide these good people back to the stands and notify the Ringmaster that the competition will recommence shortly."

"Yes, Master."

"As for you two," he turned his attention to Mando and Sinead. "I would like to talk with you somewhere more private if you please. I assume bindings won't be necessary. We're all civilized here, after all."

"What do you want with us?" Mando said.

"I have … questions. Mainly about how you managed to get so far." He studied them with his red, runny eyes. "If you're worried about your safety, I give you my word you'll come by no injuries under my watch. My staff, however, might not be so generous. You did kill quite a few of their colleagues."

Mando's grip on her tightened.

"But come. Follow me."

They were escorted through the arena, flanked by what looked like all the guards in the building. Mando half carried, half dragged her through the corridors and up the stairs, his grip on her never faltering. She wanted to lean into him.

The Master led the way, the force pike tapping on the floor with every step. Whenever someone stuck their head out through the opening to watch them go by, a guard would roughly shove them back in.

They ended up in a room on the upper level, furnished in gold and rubies. The big window showed the arena below. As before, shelves and racks filled with weapons adorned the walls, but these were laid out on small velvet pillows, some encased in protective glass.

The Master sat on a plush lounge and regarded them with a mild look.

Life had started to seep back into Sinead's legs, bringing with it an intense prickling that was almost worse than the pain. She kept hanging onto Mando. If anything happened, she had an ace up her sleeve.

"Well?" The Master crossed his long legs.

Silence.

He smiled. "I see I have to be a bit more specific. Let's start with the most pressing one: how did you get into my arena?"

Sinead bit the inside of her cheek before saying, "we were invited."

"Oh! By whom?"

"Duiy Rundu."

For the first time, the Master looked surprised. "Indeed. How curious. Ked?"

A human stepped out of the ring of guards surrounding them. "Yes, Master?"

"Go fetch Duiy and put him in the green lounge. I'll deal with him later."

The guard left, and the Master returned his focus on Mando and Sinead. He pressed a long grey finger to his lips. "I suppose I have gotten complacent in my old days. I let my subordinates have too much freedom."

Sinead clenched her jaw so hard her teeth creaked. He thought he gave them too much freedom when slaves were wasting away under his arena?

"Next question: what was important enough to risk your life? That room hasn't been used for anything other than storage for a long time. I doubt you'd find anything useful in there."

Of course. Sinead bit her tongue hard enough to break the skin.

"No answer? As you wish. Grab them."

Rough hands grabbed Sinead and tore her away from Mando, who was buried under a mountain of guards, trying to hold him down. He snarled and fought but was soon forced to his knees.

"Let go of me you-"The press of a cold blaster barrel made the words die on her lips.

"Certainly," the Master drawled. "Once you tell me why you invaded my arena."

Mando's shoulders shook as he tried to throw the guards off him.

There was an ominous click behind Sinead's ear. Beads of sweat ran down her temple.

"What will it be, Mandalorian?"

She looked at Mando and felt their eyes meet through the helmet, could feel his anger and fear.

"There are rumors that a slave went through. We're looking for him," Mando ground out.

"Ah!" The Master folded his hands in front of him. "The truth finally comes out." He waved a hand, and the blaster fell away. "You're a bounty hunter, I take it?"

"Yes."

"As your kind are wont to be. Shame so few are left."

An imperceptible shudder went through Mando.

"What I don't understand is why you wouldn't simply ask? I would've gladly helped in any way I can. The … cruel practice has been outlawed on Loovria for quite some time as you probably know, but we still keep quite extensive records." He steepled his hands together. "I would like to propose a deal: since your companion so rudely interrupted the fight, it'd only be fair if you were to step in the ring. It would be interesting to see if you measure up to the Mandalorians of yore."

"Absolutely not!" Sinead strained against the hands that held her back.

The Master looked down at her with a small smile. "No? I can't see why you would object. If you win, which we'll assume that you will, you'd be free to peruse the records for whomever you're looking for, after which you'll leave Loovria for good. If, however, you decline the offer, I'll have no choice but to find a suitable punishment, and Loovria takes trespassing very seriously. Even if you were invited, your companion was certainly not welcome to wander into restricted areas and wreaking many thousand credits worth of damage. And that's not even mentioning the murders."

"Go to hell!" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

The Master smiled and got up, holding out a hand to the nearest guard who handed him his force pike with a look of reverence. The light caught the chrome as the Master held it out for all to see.

"The force pike. As you have probably already noticed, I have amassed a large assortment of weapons, gathered over many decades. Out of all the gems in my collection, nothing compares to the force pike." He started towards them, his robe rustling with every movement. "So simple, yet versatile. The origin has been lost to time I'm afraid, but the force pike will always endure."

He stopped in front of Sinead, and she craned her neck to look him in the eyes. Her breaths came out in short bursts.

"On one end-"the vibro-edged tip hovered over her collarbone- "we have a vibro-blade strong enough to cut through durasteel." He looked at Mando struggling on the ground. "It wouldn't do much against your armor, sure, but not everyone is fortunate enough to have that kind of protection."

Sinead shuddered. The Master seemed to grow larger until he was all she could see.

He sighed. "Remind me, which side is a human's heart on again?"

With a roar, Mando's arm came free and he struck the nearest guard before trying to get to his feet. A Devaronian leaped and forced Mando back onto the ground.

"If your goal is to control, not kill, we have the force module." The Master swirled the pike in the air until the module pointed at Sinead. "It can deliver electrical shocks. Even on the lowest level, the pain is excruciating, I've been told." The tip glowed like an ember before it was enveloped in yellow light. Jabbing heat danced across Sinead's face. "It can cause paralysis or even death. But without all the messy stuff."

She tried to lean away, but the guards' iron grip wouldn't budge. The smell of petrichor filled her lungs, choking her.

"So, Mandalorian. What is your answer?"


	16. Sinead Get Your Gun

**A/N: Hiya guys! Figured I shouldn't keep you waiting too long with the cliffhanger and all. **

**So the official/unofficial faceclaim for Sinead is Adria Arjona. I always find it easier to write when I have an actual face to imagine. Well, a couple of days ago I saw that she is going to be in the new Cassian Andor show. Just thought it was pretty funny that the powers be also think she belongs in Star Wars. Since we know Cassian's fate, the two shows probably won't cross paths but if they do, I have to come up with some sort of explanation. Super secret twin?**

**Also, she and Pedro Pascal's character have … relations … in Narcos, and that was also quite a surprise. I swear that I started writing this long before I watched Narcos!**

**Anyway. On with the chapter.**

Chapter 16 – Sinead Get Your Gun

"Stop! I'll do it!"

The yellow orb stopped a few centimeters from Sinead's face.

The Master's lips curled into an imitation of a smile and stepped back, extinguishing the yellow light. "That wasn't so hard now, was it?"

Sinead let out a shaky breath. The room suddenly felt ice cold.

"Let her go!" Mando was straining against the guards holding him back.

"Certainly. As soon as you're done with the fight, you're both free to go."

"Now."

The Master chuckled. "That's not possible, I'm afraid. What's to stop you from trying to escape if we don't have some … collateral. I assure you she'll be perfectly safe."

She wished she could see Mando's face. He didn't look at her.

"If anything happens to her …"

The Master's smile grew wider.

"You have my word.

… … … … …

Sinead was dragged to another room a few doors down. It was smaller and bare except for a chair sitting in front of the window. The glass, which spanned the room, wasn't flawless but had a seam running down through the middle. One guard pushed her down on the chair with a rough order not to move. He needn't bother; all but two guards had left with Mando and the Master, but these two were armed to the teeth, and her entire body still felt like jelly that had been forced through a sieve.

The crowd wasn't happy about the delay, and she could feel, as well as hear, their anger through the thick glass.

"He needs to get on with it if he doesn't want a riot on his hands," said the Duros guard.

The Weequay guard grunted. "Ungrateful bastards. The Master's givin' them something to gawk at for decades, least they could do is shut up an' let him do it."

"Let's hope your Mandalorian is up for the task," the Duros said, brushing a cold finger along the back of Sinead's neck, and she flinched to the side.

The guards laughed, and Sinead ignored them. This was all her fault, but there had to be a way to fix it.

_Breathe._

"Look likes the Ringmaster's ready," said the Duros, his raspy voice nearly drowned out by the screaming crowd as the Nautolan stepped up on the platform.

"LADIES AND GENTS, WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE DELAY. TURNS OUT WE HAVE A NEW CHALLENGER COME TO TEST HIS METTLE AGAINST THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER! WILL THIS STRANGER LEAVE WITH HONOR OR WILL HIS BLOOD DRENCH THE SAND!"

Sinead swallowed thickly, her stomach turning at the thought of the kid waiting for them back at the ship.

"FIRST, WE HAVE OUR REIGNING CHAMPION FROM THE DEEP JUNGELS OF KASHYYYK, THE BLOODIED, THE DARKNESS FROM RWOOKRRORRO, UANNKA THE WOOKIEE!"

A Wookiee appeared sprinting up a ramp, long legs quickly carrying him to the middle of the arena. His brown fur was shorter than most Wookiee's and he wore an intricate helmet that glinted in the sharp light. One paw held a heartlance as long as his body. He lifted it to thunderous applause.

The Duros' coarse laugh filled the room. "Your man is kriffed going up against the champion."

"Bet the Master is tryin' to kill him. No one stands a chance against the Bloodied," said the Weequay.

She tried tuning them out while her mind spun wildly out of control. Mando could take care of himself, but even he would get overpowered eventually. She doubted the Master would ever let them go even if Mando managed to get out of the arena alive.

The Ringmaster continued, "THE CHALLENGER TODAY DESCENDS FROM A PROUD WARRIOR RACE NOW MERELY A DYING ECHO IN THE GALAXY. WILL THIS ONE LIVE UP TO THE REPUTATION OF HIS ANCESTORS? BEHOLD, THE MANDALORIAN!"

Mando walked slowly up the ramp, every movement careful and calculated in stark contrast to the Wookiee, who swung his heartlance and roared so loudly that Sinead felt the air's vibrations.

They met in the middle where Mando motionlessly watched Uannka pace back and forth in the sand, puffing out his chest and roaring.

The Weequay leaned against the glass. "Look at that little shiv they've given him."

Sinead strained her eyes and saw that Mando was indeed wielding a blade barely a foot long, nothing compared to Uannka's force pike.

"Probably not even vibro."

"Barely fit to gut a gwerp."

Down on the arena floor, Uannka stopped pacing and was staring down Mando, who didn't move a muscle while Uannka blustered.

"WHO WILL EMERGE VICTORIOUS AND WHO WILL PROVE UNWORTHY?

LET THE FIGHTING BEGIN!"

It happened so fast. Barely had the echo died away before Uannka grabbed his heartlance in both hands and swung it at Mando, who twisted out of the way. The lance hit the ground and threw a cloud of sand up in the air.

They circled each other. Uannka lashed out again, and Mando stepped to the side, grabbing the lance as it passed his head. Uannka kicked out and caught Mando in the stomach, sending him sprawling on the sand.

Uannka followed and lifted his weapon.

Mando hurled a fistful of sand into the Wookiee's face. Uannka roared, and Mando rolled to his feet in one fluid motion. He dashed forward and sliced Uannka across the chest.

The blade barely broke the skin.

"See," Duros laughed. "Not even vibro."

Uannka jumped away and struck with his lance; it glanced off Mando's beskar pauldron.

"When he dies, you think she's going in the ring?" The Duros said.

"Won't put up much of a fight, will she?"

Sinead dug her fingernails into the palm of her hand.

A tinny voice coming from the Weequay forced Sinead back in the moment.

_"Hey, Tyrsk!"_

The Weequay scowled and pulled out a comlink. "This better be important," he spat, "The fight's started."

_"We got a problem out here with one of the sponsors."_

"Yeah? What's it got to do with me? I'm watchin' the prisoner."

_"Just get your bony ass out here! We about to have a pissed off Wookiee on our hands."_

Sinead sat still as a statue, trying to look as small and harmless as possible.

Tyrsk heaved a sigh. "Fine, I'm comin'. Don't get et before I get there." He looked at the Duros. "Make sure she doesn't move."

The Duros chuckled and fiddled with his blaster. "What's she gonna do? She's just a human girl."

"Just don't let her out of your sight, okay?" Tyrsk stomped across the floor, his pale eyes boring a hole into Sinead's back. "Need to do everything myself," he muttered before the door slammed shut behind him.

Now it was just Sinead and the Duros in the small room and his presence was a heavy weight beside her. Her ears prickled whenever he moved.

She wet her lips. "What ... what did this room use to be?"

"Shut it," the Duros said harshly and flicked her ear.

"It's odd having an empty room up here, is all, surrounded by all this wealth."

"I told you to shut it." The Duros' voice was deceptively calm. "Another word out of you, and I'll feed you to the akk dogs downstairs, ya hear? Just sit there and watch your Mandalorian be turned into ground beef."

Down on the arena floor, Mando went low and drew his blade across Uannka's thigh. The Wookiee fell to one knee to the crowds' delight. Blood dripped from the weapon as Mando backed out of reach.

"FIRST BLOOD HAS BEEN SPILLED!" The Ringmaster screamed.

Uannka got up and thundered towards Mando, roaring so loudly that Sinead felt it in her bones.

Her heart stuttered to a halt.

The heartlance glanced off Mando's armor, throwing sparks into the air. Uannka kept going, his momentum too strong.

He crashed into Mando, and they both went down.

Time slowed as neither of them moved. This was it. He was dead and she was next. A strangled sob escaped her as she though of the kid, waiting for them, not knowing that he would never see Mando again …

Uannka rolled over, and Mando slowly got to his feet. His blade was buried to the hilt in the Wookiee's chest.

The crowd exploded. There was no other word for it. They howled and screamed, jumping up and down until it felt like the arena was shaking.

Sinead let out a breathless laugh. He did it!

The Master watched silently from his throne.

"WHAT A SHOW! THE MANDALORIAN HAS TRULY PROVED HIMSELF TO BE A WORTHY OPPONENT! BUT WHAT WILL HE DO AGAINST A FEARSOME PREDATOR BRED IN THE DESERT OF FLORRUM?"

Mando scrambled back as a large portion of the arena fell away, and a scaly head appeared from the darkness. A long, gnarled body lumbered up the ramp.

Sinead had only seen an Oolo once before, in the palace on Sriluur. It had been a gift from Jabba to Slezza and had killed five palace guards before someone managed to put it down.

"Well, if the Bloodied didn't kill him …" the Duros snickered.

Once the Oolo was entirely out in the open, it reared back and hissed. It looked like a boulder come to life. Its battering-ram sized tail swung from side to side.

Mando dashed across the sand towards Uannka's heartlance.

Both Sinead and the Duros jumped when the door opened, and a new guard stuck his head through the crack.

"We need your help," he said, panting slightly. "The Wookiee's gone mad, we can't control him."

"Get someone from the lower levels to do it."

"They're out doing crowd control or dealing with the Mandalorian. C'mon, man!"

Once again, Sinead looked as small as possible. _Please, please, please, I'm no threat to you. Leave!_

The Duros opened his mouth but was cut off by a deep roar that did not come from the arena.

"Kriff!" the guard looked down the hall and his face paled. "Just lock the door behind her, what's she gonna do in an empty room?" He slammed the door shut just as another roar split the air.

The Duros pulled her up and checked her pockets for anything that could help her escape. When he didn't find anything, he pushed her back into the chair. "If you've moved so much as a centimeter when I come back, I'll throw you into the Pit. Understand?"

As soon as the door clicked shut, she sprang into action; she wedged the chair under the door even though it wouldn't be much of a challenge for an angry Duros, it could buy her a bit more time. Next, she circled the room, running a hand across the wall, checking for any gap or crack, but it was solid all the way around.

Years of use had turned the carpet into a brownish color instead of deep red, and scuff marks outlined where there once had been heavy furniture. Whatever the room had been, it was now empty, and it didn't look like they'd left anything behind when they cleared it out.

A boom shook the building. Sinead dashed across the floor to look down into the arena: the Oolo lifted its tail and smashed it into the ground, throwing up a tidal-wave of sand where it hit. Mando threw himself to the side, narrowly avoiding getting pulverized.

Sinead fell to her knees. There had to be a way out.

The Oolo reared round and tried to squash Mando with its tail again. The window rattled, and she noticed that a small gap had appeared between the wall and the glass.

With shaking hands, she grabbed the frayed rug and pulled. It came away easily and bared the cold stone floor beneath. Once it was gone, she discovered that the glass ran on a small track that looked like it hadn't been used for a long time. A tiny keyhole was set into the sliding.

Was it for maintenance? It looked old and forgotten, the guards certainly hadn't been aware of it, otherwise they wouldn't have left her alone.

She pulled out two carpet pins and jammed them into the hole. Blood pounded in her ears and she shot a frantic look over her shoulder at the door. She kept losing her grip on the pins. One snapped and she threw it across the room.

"C'mon," she whispered, wiping her sweaty brow with the back of her hand.

Suddenly, the mechanism clicked in place and the glass moved a centimeter before getting stuck with a grinding sound.

Sinead jammed her fingers into the crack and heaved, ignoring her screaming muscles.

Slowly, the window moved.

The deafening noise from the crowd nearly knocked her back. Thousands of voices joined together to make an unintelligible howl.

A narrow ledge ran alongside the window just wide enough for her to walk on without falling to her death.

Down in the arena, the Oolo brought its front legs down on the ground with a resounding boom. Mando jumped out of its field of vision, and it reared back, its big yellow eyes scanning the arena.

Mando appeared beneath the Oolo. The creature hissed when it saw him, spitting globs of venom. Its eyes narrowed.

Sinead couldn't look away.

As the Oolo came down, Mando thrust the lance between the Oolo's armored plates between its front legs. Its scream reverberated in Sinead's head.

She took a deep breath and stepped out on the worn stone. The air was hot and dry. It felt like she was back on Sriluur. A metallic smell of blood permeated everything.

Pressing herself against the cold, smooth glass, she inched her way along the ledge, hoping that the rooms would be empty.

A shriek went through the crowd, and Sinead instinctively looked down; she'd never been scared of heights, but the fact that the only thing standing between her and a deadly drop was a couple of centimeters of crumbling stone made her head spin and her mouth taste like cobber.

Mando backed up as three nexu stalked across the sand, their wide mouths open in a terrible grin.

She tore her eyes away to concentrate on the perilous walk. As long as nobody looked up, she would make it. Had the two guards discovered that she had escaped?

Suddenly the glass fell away, and she tumbled into the repository, or whatever it was. The world spun as she buried her fingers in the carpet, allowing herself to feel the solid ground before getting to her feet. The floor was littered with broken glass and ancient weapons which had yet to be cleared away. She grabbed a strange looking blaster on her way across the floor and concealed it under the back of her shirt. Pressing an ear to the door, she tried to still her beating heart enough to hear. There were sounds of running feet and anther ear-splitting roar; so Feyvik was still going.

She peeked into the corridor. Sounds of fighting just around the corner made her run the opposite direction. She had no idea where she was running to, only that she had to get out of there.

Shadows appeared on the wall, and her heart stopped.

A door opened next to her, and with a quick decision, she shoved it open and dove inside. A terrified servant yelped, and Sinead clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Shhh!" She hissed, shooting a frightened look at the door. It sounded like a whole battalion sprinted by outside.

The room was a small kitchen, a stone counter and an unlit heater the only furniture. A door led into another room.

The servant shook under Sinead's hand.

A distinct Wookiee roar cut through the air and gave Sinead an idea.

"What are you doing here?" She ripped her hands away.

"I-I was just-"

"There's a Wookiee running rampant on this floor! We have to get out of here! Now!"

The servant's legs gave out under her, and Sinead had to grab her again to keep her from falling.

"Listen-" Sinead hauled her to the nearest counter and sat her down- "who else is up here?"

The servant blubbered, and Sinead shook her. For the plan to work, she had to keep the servant off balance. "Well?"

"I'm the only one up here. The Master-"

"Is there another way out of here? The stairs aren't safe." _For me, anyway._

The pale servant nodded slowly and pointed a shaking finger at a metal square set into the wall. Sinead pressed a button beside it, and it opened to reveal a small lift, barely big enough for a person.

"Where does it lead to?"

"Kitchen down in the Undercroft. The big one."

"Right." Sinead crossed the floor and grabbed the servant. "In you go."

"W-what? I can't fit in there!"

Another roar sounded closer than before.

"You'd rather stay?"

Sinead helped the servant squeeze into the lift. Once she was tucked in, Sinead's finger hovered over the down button. "When you get down there, you need to tell everyone to run. Master's orders."

"But why would he-"

"Have you ever seen what an angry Wookiee can do to a person? Do you want to?"

The servant looked like she was about to faint.

"Remember! You have to run."

Once the lift closed, she had to work fast on some kind of distraction.

A stack of crates in the corner grabbed her attention and she tore the lid away and peered inside, finding dark bottles packed in sawdust. She turned one of the bottles over. Cassandran Choholl. Very useful. Very flammable.

She grabbed as many bottles as she could carry and kicked open the other door, hoping the servant was right when she said that she was alone. The door opened into a study, the only light coming from the window. It seemed that care had been taken to make the room completely soundproof, as the constant hum from the crowd faded away as soon as she stepped inside.

She threw one of the bottles as hard as she could. It flew through the air and landed on the desk, smashing into a thousand pieces. The air was filled with a sharp, sweet smell that made Sinead's nose itch.

The rest of the bottles followed. The last one was upended on the floor,

trailing back

to the door, which she propped open with a vase. Even if she ended up dying, there was a sort of solace to be found in the fact that she had wasted more credits than she would ever see in a lifetime in just a minute.

She needed fire. Every cabinet under the counter was thrown open and the content pulled out on the floor. Her mouth was dry as she frantically tried to find anything useful. It was clear this kitchen was rarely used. At least not for any fire-making purposes.

A sack at the very back of a cupboard fell over and spilled a small amount of white powder on the floor. As she pulled it out, a cloud of white whirled into the air. Flour. She could use that.

The lift whirred as it reached the kitchen down below. Sinead punched the button to call it back. That done, she flung the sack around, coating the entire room in flour. It rose like a wave around her, coating the inside of her mouth and nose. For a moment, it was all she could see.

The ancient heater groaned as she turned a knob and a small, blue flame appeared between the scorched metal.

As soon as the lift appeared, she threw herself into the small space. The last thing she saw before the lift doors closed was the cloud of flour growing bigger and the lone flame flickering on the heater. She had to curl up to fit in the lift, her knees pressed against her chest and her head bent at an unnatural angle. The contraception whirred and shook violently. The lift became smaller and smaller. Her clothes stank of Choholl, the smell enough to make her dizzy.

Just as the cold fingers of panic had closed around her throat, the doors opened. She rolled out onto the cold stone floor. The kitchen was empty.

She was picking herself up from the floor when a boom shook the building, and a blast of hot air shot out of the open lift, which jumped, and the rope holding it snapped, sending it falling into the darkness with a crash.

There were screams from up above and thunderous footsteps on the other side of the door. Once they died away, she stole into the stairwell.

The undercroft was in complete chaos. Panicked shouts filled the big chamber, workers dashed between each other, hauling ropes or cages across the floor.

No one noticed an extra person join in the confusion.

Most of the remaining workers were prepping three akk dogs to be sent up. The creatures snarled and snapped at anyone getting too close to their cages.

Sinead's eyes were drawn to the holoprojector by the large control panel showing a translucent Mando running from the last nexu. The other two lay dead beside the Oolo.

All the guards were gone, and she still had the strange blaster; taking out the lone worker operating the controls would be easy. Until someone attacked her with an electro whip, that is.

Instead, she hurried into the adjacent chamber where the caged slaves were up and whispering amongst themselves. Fear and confusion hung in the air.

Only two guards were walking back and forth between the cages. One of them brought his electrostaff down on the bars, sending a shower of sparks into the air.

"Shut up!" he bellowed.

She found Belan and slunk up beside the cage.

"You're alive," he whispered, wrinkling his brows when he saw her flour-covered appearance. "The explosion, that was you?"

"No time," she ground out. "Need you to distract the guards."

"How?"

"Figure something out."

She moved back into the shadows as he pushed his way to the top of the cage and waited until one of the guards was right beside him. His hands shot out and grabbed the guard, slamming him against the bars.

"Get off me, you little whelp!" The guard tried to snatch his blaster, but new hands grabbed his arms and held them down.

"Hey! Let him go!" the other guard ran forwards, brandishing his electrostaff.

Sinead pulled out the blaster, took aim, and fired.

A small projectile exploded out of the blaster with an ear-splitting bang and an acrid smell of chemicals. The kickback almost wrenched it out of her hand.

The guard stumbled and fell to the ground.

A dirty hand snaked around the last guard and grabbed his blaster, and he went down with a strangled scream, a smoking hole in his back.

"Get us out of here!" someone screamed.

Wires ran from all the cages to a mechanism bolted on the wall, with a simple lever that she grabbed and pulled. Every door beeped and slid to the side simultaneously. Soon the chamber was filled with thin bodies clamoring towards the sewer entrance, nearly lifting Sinead off her feet. She was shoved against a hitherto unseen workstation hidden between the cages, the sharp edge cutting into her hip. Cards from a game of sabacc were scattered across the surface.

She was about to fight her way through the crowd when something peeking out from under the workstation caught her eye and she pulled it out.

An old datapad fell into her hands, one of those without any light that flickered to a new page when you pressed a small button at the bottom of the screen. In the dimly lit chamber all she could make out was a long list of names and a number. She shoved it under her shirt and out of the way.

Panic spread among the newly freed captives as the sewer remained shut. Sinead was shoved as some of the group turned and ran for the tunnel, spilling into the main chamber. Sounds of fighting reached her, and she fought her way through the mass of bodies.

Most of the workers ran when the slaves appeared; some grabbed the nearest weapon, but they didn't stand a chance against the press of panicked people. Sinead watched as a worker brandishing an electro-whip was swarmed until he turned and ran.

Sinead made her way to the control panel. Panic from the freed slaves and her own fear made her vision blur.

The translucent Mando was still alive, but the last nexu was nearing, and he had lost the lance. When it came too close, he shot a burst of fire from his gauntlet that made the nexu rear back before the flame died away.

She looked over the control panel. There were so many buttons and levers.

The akk dogs howled.

"Screw this," she mumbled and pressed a big red button.

The mechanisms groaned as the three cages were lifted into the air. A portion of the ceiling slid down.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" She watched horrified as the creatures lumbered up the ramps to thunderous applause.

On the holoprojector, Mando threw himself to the side at the last second, and the nexu tore into one of the akk dogs, the nexu's long claws ripping into its flanks.

She started slapping the console, eyes fixed on the hologram, her breath coming out in shallow bursts. Cages opened and closed. Some were lifted high in the air or slammed into the ground.

Suddenly, a section of the ceiling fell away, and the Mandalorian rolled into the chamber in a cascade of sand.

… … … … …

Din's lungs were burning. He inched back, keeping an eye on the nexu, acutely aware that he was surrounded.

So this was how it would end. He hoped Sinead made it back to the ship, got the kid out of there. He tried to push the thought away.

The nexu crouched and opened its maw, emitting a foul stench of death and decay.

He wouldn't go down without a fight. The pain in his arm where another nexu had gotten him died away as his heart rate slowed.

This is the way.

The nexu pounced, and the ground vanished under his feet.

Din rolled backward down the ramp until suddenly he was falling. He crashed into the ground, knocking every last breath out of his chest.

The world spun. He tried to get up, but a weight landed on his chest, sharp claws tearing into his already wounded arm.

Something exploded above him and the weight disappeared.

He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.

Hands grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

"Mando? Oh, please don't be dead."

Slowly, his vision cleared.

"Sinead?" He gasped out with his first breath.

"Thank the stars!" Her forehead hit his chest plate for a moment before she got up and pulled him with her. "We have to run!"

Muscles shook as he got to his feet. "… the … records-"

"No time!" She kept a hold on his uninjured hand and pulled him along.

As his head was clearing, he noticed that the chaos around them, empty cages and creatures fighting among themselves.

They ran up a flight of stairs, Din letting her lead the way while he came to grips with the fact that he was still alive.

Citizens of Strako, the ones who'd screamed for his blood just moments before, ran amok through the corridors. There were snarls and howls behind him as the creatures followed them up the stairs.

The cold night air hit him when they made it outside. No guards were manning the main entrance, no one stopped them as they disappeared into the city.

Strako rang out with screams that seemed louder in the night. Frantic citizens fled while snarling, roaring, howling creatures spilled from the arena.

They never stopped running.

The spaceport teemed with activity on the ground and in the air. Sinead took charge, shoving her way to the Crest, which stood untouched in its corner.

She was the first to get up the ramp and disappear into the ship. The child woke up with an angry screech as she thundered past his crib and scrambled up the ladder to the cockpit.

Din pressed the command to close the ramp and let himself slide down the wall with a pained grunt. His body buzzed with adrenaline. Leaning his head back and closing his eyes, he tried to slow his breathing.

The ship shook as it came to life and rose into the air, wobbling a bit before moving out of the spaceport.

Small hands tugged on his pant leg, and he opened his eyes. The child looked up at him with a scrunched face and drooping ears, gripping the doll tightly. He sensed when Din looked at him and made a pathetic little sound.

He was scared. The realization made Din's heart clench.

"It's okay," Din mumbled and lifted the kid onto his lap. "It's okay."

The kid pressed his face against Din's chest plate. The beskar had to be so cold and hard, but he still did it.

"It's okay."

Only when the ship had entered hyperspace, did Din allow himself to relax, letting some of the tension ebb out of his body. He didn't care where they were going, as long as it was away from Loovria. Another planet to add to his rapidly growing list of places he wanted to avoid at all costs.

His eyes drifted shut. With every beat of his heart, a stab of pain shot through his arm.

The sound of Sinead's boots hitting the floor brought him back. He just wanted to sleep.

"Mando?"

He looked at her. She strode across the floor, her hands fidgeting with white powder clinging to her hair and clothes.

"You … you're okay?"

He winced as he tried to sit up. "Yeah."

Sinead breathed out a sigh of relief. "I don't know where we're going. Just picked the first route out of here."

"We'll figure it out."

Her face was drawn under the harsh lights. "Mando, I'm …" she stopped, biting her lower lip.

The child made a sound as Din shifted him to cradle him against his chest before trying to stand up.

Sinead was there, grabbing his uninjured arm and pulling him towards the bunk. His first instinct was to shake her off, tell her that he could handle it himself. But he didn't. He was just so tired.

Bloodlets fell from his fingertips, and the kid reached for the injury. He made an angry sound as Sinead grabbed him and pulled him away.

"You need help with that?" Her eyes were fixated on the dripping blood, ignoring the wriggling kid in her arms.

"I got it," Din grunted. Gritting his teeth, he carefully peeled the glove off.

It was a mess. Two puncture wounds on the back of his hand seemed to be the source of most of the blood, but he could feel other injuries further up his forearm. If it hadn't been for the beskar, he wouldn't have an arm left to patch up.

With a sharp intake of breath, Sinead stepped closer while making sure the kid stayed in her arms. "Fuck," she breathed.

"It's fine." It really wasn't, but he didn't know what else to say. He gave up trying to roll his sleeve over the injuries, instead cutting the fabric away with a nearby knife.

Sinead put down the child and raced to the nearest compartment. "I used the last t'pala paste. Stupid."

"Sinead, you don't have to …" he watched as she ripped open another compartment and rifled through the contents. Pain pulsed through his arm in a steady rhythm, reaching all the way up to his shoulder. The wounds on his forearm would be easy enough to fix, but his hand was a whole other question; the nerves, tendons, and bones would take little more than a bandage.

The kid tried to climb onto the bunk, and Din halfheartedly pushed him away.

"Got it!"

Sinead turned, a bacta patch clutched in her hands, one he didn't even remember getting. Bacta was so expensive in the Outer Rim that he usually did without it. She dragged an empty box across the floor and sat down in front of him, her legs brushing against his. He watched her as she grabbed the knife and carefully cut the packet open.

"What are you doing?" He instinctively leaned back, trying to get more space between them.

"An old trick I learned in the palace. If you have a lot of injuries and not a lot of bacta, you do this." The tip of her tongue poked out between her lips as she cut the last three sides. A sickly sweet smell quickly spread through the hull. "These things can't really be reused. Not very useful in this situation."

He let her nervous chatter and the hum from the ship's engine wash over him. Pain was the only reason he hadn't already drifted off to sleep.

Something warm touched his arm and he jumped, his other hand shooting out to protect himself.

Sinead stared wide-eyed up at him. He'd grabbed her wrist so hard, she had dropped a piece of cloth that fluttered to the floor.

"Sorry," she breathed. "I thought you were asleep."

He blinked hard and let go of her wrist. The new adrenaline spike made his head spin. Had she gotten up to get the rag? The kid was back in his crib, trying to climb over the side, so she must have.

"Wasn't," he mumbled.

She bent down and grabbed the rag from the floor. "I'm just going to clean up the blood, okay?" Her voice was soft.

"Can do it myself." He reached out for the cloth, but she kept it out of his reach.

"Just relax. I know what I'm doing."

Instincts honed by years alone in the Outer Rim screamed out to push her away, to find a secluded place and mend his wounds alone. Here, he was helpless, vulnerable. If she wanted, she could kill him right now, and he wouldn't be able to stop her.

He couldn't suppress a shudder when she touched his wrist, gently turning his hand. She stopped at the movement, her eyes flickering to his. "This is probably gonna hurt."

He nodded slowly.

Biting her lower lip, she set to work on cleaning the blood, which had mostly stopped flowing. Some of it had already dried, and she rubbed carefully, watching him for any sign of pain.

He gritted his teeth, focusing his eyes on a hook hanging from the ceiling. Pain coursed through his arm, but that wasn't the most distracting part. Pain he was used to. Sinead's touch was light and gentle as she worked, now and again glancing up at him as if she could see his face, looking for any sign of discomfort. When she moved her hand, she left a tingling sensation just beneath his skin.

She left the rag on the bunk, out of the kid's reach. He had given up trying to get to Din and was sulking on the floor.

"Can you hold this, please?"

Din held the bacta patch in his good hand, and she opened it carefully, taking care to not spill any of the gel. Instead of just a gob of bacta, there was a wad of gauze drenched in the gel, and she peeled off the first see-through sheet.

"Worst part's over." She smiled up at him, but it didn't fully reach her eyes.

She started from the top, carefully placing the paper over a gash. Immediately, it was like Din had submerged his arm in water so cold it dulled all other senses.

"It takes longer to work this way, and there'll be some scarring, but it's better than nothing."

A few more scars didn't really make a difference.

She worked in silence. Din watched her through heavy-lidded eyes.

"Mando …" she said, breaking him out of his daze. "I'm so sorry about all of this …" She stared intently at his wounded arm. "This is my fault. I should never have asked you to do this."

His brows furrowed. "But you didn't? The Pau'an-"

"That's not what I meant." She brushed a few tendrils of hair that had escaped her braid out of her face and left a bloody mark across her cheek. "I should never have asked you to pretend to be a fighter, or leave you with Rundu while I run off blindly, getting both of us caught."

He tried to summon the anger he had felt when she left him with the Neimoidian, but the bacta and her touch made it hard to feel anything at all.

"Thank you."

Her hands stilled, and their eyes met. For a long moment, neither of them spoke.

Din was the first one to look away, not sure what to say. His eyes fell on the blaster Sinead had left on the floor when she first entered the Crest. Suddenly, the explosion he'd heard made sense.

"Where d'you find a slugthrower?"

She looked over her shoulder at the weapon. "From the Master's collection."

"And the flour?"

Sinead looked confused for a moment before huffing out a laugh. "Oh, that. My little distraction." She scratched the side of her nose, leaving more blood. "My mother told me if I ever needed a big explosion, to find the kitchen and get my hands on whatever loose powder I could find. Every place has a kitchen. Well, except this one." She gestured with a bloodied hand to the rest of the ship.

"There's a galley."

She shot him a wry smile. "No, there's not. Just because you weld a cooker and a cold box to the inside of a gunship doesn't mean it's a galley."

"Mhm." He allowed himself to smile and leaned his head against the wall. Sinead's touch was becoming almost hypnotic.

The next thing he remembered was Sinead standing up, having wrapped the last of the bacta around his hand.

"You go get some rest. I'll clean this up," she said, going to the sink and cleaning her hands. Din noticed the blood down her shirt and in a puddle on the floor. The child had fallen asleep leaning up against his crib.

"I'm fine."

"You can't be fine, you nearly got your arm bitten off." She lifted the child and put him in his crib. "Go. I promise the world won't end just because you get some well-deserved rest."

It felt like it would.

"But-"

"Mando." The word came out in a sigh. "The bacta won't work properly unless you sleep. There's nothing here for you to do."

He looked at the kid sleeping peacefully in his crib. "If anything happens, come get me."

"Okay."

"I mean it."

"Okay!" She held her hand up, palms out. "If, for whatever reason, anything happens while we're hurtling through hyperspace, I promise I'll come and get you."

Din grunted and rolled his eyes under the helmet.

The door to the storage space closed behind him, and he slipped off his helmet, taking a deep breath of recycled air. It was over.

He crawled onto the cot, not bothering to get out of the rest of his armor. His body felt heavy, and it was like his arm didn't know whether to hurt or to tingle. Quickly, the smell of bacta spread in the small room.

The last thing he remembered before drifting away was the sound of Sinead knocking around on the other side of the door.

… … … … …

**A/N: Hope you liked the chapter. It's extra long to make up for the cliffhanger.**

**Before you go, I wanna thank everyone who reviewed, followed, favorited, and all the silent readers! I see you and I appreciate you! I just crossed 100k words across all the files for this fic (so including outline and deleted chapters) and this is officially the longest thing I've ever written.**

**So thank you! **


	17. We Need to Talk About Kyen

**A/N: Hi guys! Happy Halloween and season 2 of the Mandalorian! I'm back after a much-needed break with brand new shiny chapter right on top of the brand new shiny episode. I have a nice backlog of chapters, so you can expect an update a week at least until the season is over.**

**Thanks for reading 3**

Chapter 17 - We Need to Talk About Kyen

The Razor Crest touched down on the planet's dusty surface, the ship groaning as it settled on the ground. Din looked out at the deserted landing pads and the sandblasted settlement with a frown. He would have preferred to land somewhere uninhabited and wait for Sinead to finish going through the records, but the ship had been running on fumes, and he didn't want to risk getting stranded in the middle of nowhere.

He looked down at his gloved hand, moving his fingers experimentally. Sometimes an ache would run down his arm, the only evidence that a nexu had tried to rip his arm off.

The sight that met him when he stood and turned nearly made his heart leap out of his chest: the child had found a fusing pen, probably taken it from the toolbox that stood in the corner of the cockpit. A treson cluster had burst behind a panel close to the door, and Din had had to hastily pull the half-melted components out and weld the rest back together as best he could.

"No, you don't." Din pulled the pen from the kid's hands, stifling a small smile when the kid sighed as loudly as his little body was capable of, his face wrinkled into a frown. He left the pen on top of the console and lifted the kid into his arms. "Come on," he mumbled to the child, who tried reaching for the pen.

Sinead sat on her bunk in the hull, scrolling through the datapad with a vacant look in her eyes. She glanced up when he climbed down the ladder.

"We landed?"

"On Mon Scon. Ship's almost out of fuel."

"Okay," she said and returned to her work.

Din stood silently, unsure what to do, unsure what he wanted to do. She hadn't said a word since she started going through the record. Instead, she seemed to grow smaller and smaller, the light from the datapad making her look washed out and ill. His arm prickled, and he almost managed to convince himself that it was residual bacta.

Once outside, it became clear why the landing pad was empty; cold gusts of wind tore across the ground. The sun directly overhead gave no warmth, only pale light that seemed to suck the colors out of everything, and every step threw up a cloud of dust that blew away in the wind.

There was a fuel pump on every landing pad, and Din flipped a switch to start the process. It made a coughing sound and briefly let out a smell of burning plastic before the wind whipped it away. He closed his eyes and counted to 10.

"Guess we have to go find someone."

The child cooed in response.

It took some time before Din got someone willing to help. The locals huddled in their houses or under warped awnings made to catch the worst of the sand. At last, an old and wizened human told Din to grab a toolbox and follow him, and once they got to the fuel pump, it took him a few minutes to clean out the buildup of sand.

The man walked back to the city, bent low to shield himself from the wind which had begun to come in harder and harder. Din leaned against the fuel pump and waited.

The ramp came down, and Sinead appeared in the opening. "You okay out here?"

"The pump didn't work. Should be done soon."

She nodded and disappeared back into the ship, leaving the ramp down, allowing sand to blow through the opening.

Din heaved a sign and was about to close the ship back up when a shadow through the haze caught his eyes; four shadows to be more precise who were moving closer to the ship.

A blaster bolt fizzed over his shoulder and hit the ship dangerously close to the fuel port, where it ricocheted off the metal with a ping. He dropped to the ground and drew his blaster, trying to keep his body between the kid and the attackers.

"Oh Mando!" a familiar voice called out.

Yurru. Shit.

"You're very popular these days!" The human bounty hunter came into view, most of her face hidden behind a mask. He could see his cold eyes glint behind the visor. The three others were strangers. Hired help, maybe. "It was quite the mess you made back on Nevarro. Didn't believe my ears when I heard what you did. You're the last person I expected to break the code."

Standing up, Din started moving away from the ship one careful step a time, keeping his eyes trained on Yurru. She was the only one smart enough to wear a helmet; the other three wore goggles to protect their eyes, but it was clear they were having trouble with sand blasting against their unprotected skin.

Yurru inspected her blaster. "Just this morning, I said to Vorkit, I said 'wouldn't it be nice if the target came to us for a change.' And just like that, you fall into our lap." Her eyes narrowed. "Got nothing to say?"

He was only half-listening while searching the surroundings for any sort of cover that wasn't a highly explosive fuel pump. The kid felt heavy in his arms.

Yurru shrugged. "Doesn't matter anyway. Vorkit!"

"Yeah?" one of her companions said, scratching at his uncovered ear. The lens on his goggles was cracked.

"Check the ship. See if the target's in there."

Din didn't move as Vorkit went to the ramp and squinted into the dark ship. "Hey! Anyone in there?"

Yurru snarled. "Get in there and look."

Vorkit grumbled but still walked up the ramp, holding his blaster rifle at the ready.

"Now," Yurru said with a sigh. "I still haven't decided what to do with you. Dragging you back to Nevarro by the short and curlies will definitely put me among the greats, but there's something very satisfying in letting the traitor end his days in a shallow grave on some insignificant planet."

Din shifted his stance, so he was ready to move out of the way. If it came to it, he would be able to take a couple of blaster bolts, but the kid would not.

A thunderous explosion tore through the air, and the bounty hunters hit the ground. Din turned and saw her.

Sinead stalked down the ramp, her face set in an angry snarl, lit by red light emanating from a whip - the whip - she held in her hand. She swung it in an arc that alighted the air with kyber fire. The beskar didn't behave like metal; it flew through the air with precision and grace, irregular bursts of energy pulsing down the length of chain. The laser melted the sand to glass wherever it touched.

The whip cracked down on one of the bounty hunters who flew back, his chest caving in on itself. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Sinead whirled around and brought the whip down on the last bounty hunter. He crumbled in a wet, smoldering mess. An acrid smell of burning flesh filled the air.

Yurru aimed her blaster at Sinead, but before she had a chance to shoot, Din took her down with a shot to the chest.

Sinead turned in a circle, surveying the carnage around her. The whip burned a black line where it touched the ground.

"Is the kid okay?" She powered down the weapon, the red laser disappearing back into the hilt, leaving behind the beskar core.

"Yeah, I think-" Din looked under the cloak at the child, who started up at him with his big, dark eyes- "I think so."

She poked the bloody mess with the tip of her boot. "Who were they?"

"Bounty hunters." He went to Yurru's body and rifled through her pockets, coming up with a small pouch filled with credits and a tracking fob emitting a steady beep, which he crushed under the heel of his boot. "Let's go."

Sinead scanned the horizon. The wind came in even harder, and the settlement was almost totally obscured by a wall of sand. "Let's."

Sand had piled up on the ship's floor by the time they got back, and Sinead started to sweep it outside while Din placed the kid on the bunk. He turned to face her.

"I thought you said the nau'orar was somewhere safe," he said in a forced calm voice.

"Yes. The safest place is with me."

He scoffed, which finally made her turn, the whip swinging gently with her movement. "What was I supposed to do? Bury it on a random planet? Hide it somewhere and hope no one finds it?"

He gritted his teeth. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Now it was her turn to scoff. "I didn't know you. If you knew, what would've stopped you from taking the damn thing and leaving me for dead?"

She, very annoyingly, had a point. If the roles were reversed, he wouldn't have told her either. Hell, it wasn't until she literally risked her life for the child that he told her the truth about him.

"I could still do that."

"I have a feeling you won't." For a long moment she looked at him, head cocked to the side, and an unreadable look in her eyes. Wordlessly, she offered him the weapon.

It was lighter than he thought. The metal rings clinked as he turned it in his hands, the light catching on the beskar in an almost hypnotic way. Crystals had been fused to the metal, probably what powered the whip. The hilt fit in his hand like it had been made for him, perfect Mandalorian craftsmanship. Another piece of their culture stolen away like everything else. It belonged in the covert.

He thrust it back to Sinead.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Sinead said. "I nearly killed myself the first time I turned it on." She bundled it into a rag and stowed it in the little crevice between the bunk and the wall.

"Where'd you learn how to use it?"

"Got a leather whip to practice with, you know, I figured it was better to lose an eye than my head if something went wrong. And, I don't know ... once you get the hang of it, it's not that hard."

Din tore his eyes away from the whip's hiding spot. "I'm gonna find somewhere else to stay."

"Preferably without any bounty hunters."

"Yeah."

... ... ... ... ...

She almost missed his name.

The words blurred together in a long string of blue light. She had stopped thinking about them as names, as living, breathing sentients who had fought or toiled in the refineries on Loovria. It hurt too much.

It took a second for her brain to comprehend what it was looking at, and then it felt like all oxygen had been sucked out of the room.

K. Beck.

Human.

She nearly fell off the ladder in her haste to get to the cockpit, where Mando sat quietly with the kid on his lap. He startled when she stumbled into the room.

"I found him!" She tapped on the datapad in rapid motion, making the colors warp.

Mando took the datapad and looked, while Sinead threw herself into her seat just to jump up and start pacing.

"Says he was sold to a royal house on Seavo."

"So let's go."

"He was a fighter in the arena."

A small seed of horrible doubt took root in the pit of her stomach. The image of Kyen in the arena, bloody blade at his side, refused to form in her mind. Combat was the antithesis of him. He was a farmer, not a fighter. "He did what he had to do. We've all done things we regret in the name of survival. You gonna plug in the course?"

Mando gave her back the datapad and started the navicomputer. She could feel him glancing at her as the ship changed course.

"What?"

He fiddled with a row of switches for some time before sitting back into his chair, clearing his throat. "You know, there's ... there's no guarantee that he's still alive."

"I've had years to think about this. The possibility has struck me. I still have to know."

"Fine."

She desperately tried to hold on to the elated feeling from before, not wanting to let Mando drag her down. He was right, of course. Her search could very well end at the foot of a grave. At least she would know what happened to him.

Letting out a deep breath, she leaned back in her chair and waited.

... ... ... ... ...

Seavo, it turned out, was a small and unimportant planet in a small, unimportant system located on the edge of wild space, where travelers were few and far between. It had no tactical significance and had therefore been largely ignored by most of the galaxy-wide conflicts. The surface consisted mostly of icy seas and slivers of rocky land. Mando steered the ship towards the biggest settlement which clung to the side of a cliff like a mollusk, nestled inside a large bay. As they came closer, Sinead could see watercrafts bob in the water.

The Crest landed on the small platform between rusty light freighters that looked like they hadn't been used for a long time. The people of Seavo had little use for space travel.

The smell of saltwater overwhelmed her senses when the ramp came down, and a chill immediately snuck into her bones. Growing up in space and subsequently ending up on a desert planet meant that she hadn't had much exposure to the sea, which was fine by her.

On the opposite side of the bay, overlooking the settlement, stood a dilapidated palace like a great shadow against the overcast sky. Even from a distance, it was clear that it had seen better days.

Sinead tamped down on the growing excitement which had bubbled up as soon as the palace came into view. Kyen might be in there. He wasn't, because when had she ever been that lucky, but until they got an explicit confirmation, she could pretend there was only a crumbling wall between them.

"You ready?" Mando looked at her.

"Doesn't look like anyone's home."

"Let's go find out."

The path to the palace led down through the settlement, steep and uneven. None of the houses were the same, but somehow, they all followed the same chaotic pattern. Some had grown together or had entirely new floors added on, made from whatever they'd managed to scavenge. Sinead recognized the cockpit of a hammerhead corvette stuck to the side of a building like an outhouse.

"They're very crafty," Sinead said.

"They have to be. There aren't enough resources to go around."

"I guess when all you have is endless seas and useless rock, you gotta make do."

Most of the people they passed were human, all of them casting curious or low-key hostile looks at Sinead and Mando.

It became clear that no one had lived in the palace for a long time. Even standing at the bottom of the bay, she could see that parts of the roof had caved in and the windows were black voids in the lichen-covered walls.

A human woman worked by a larger house, prying rusty metal plates off the outer wall and discarding them on the ground. She stopped to push a lock of wiry hair out of her face, and Sinead chose that time to clear her throat. The woman turned with a scowl, and Sinead gave her a winning smile. "Excuse me, I'm looking for someone to tell me about the palace up there."

"Who's asking?"

"Names Jesha."

"Why're you asking?"

She shrugged. "Just wondering why such a beautiful building has been allowed to fall into disrepair."

The woman gave the palace a dark look. "Psh. What use do we have for beautiful buildings, hm? If you haven't noticed this ain't Coruscant. Fancy houses don't keep your family fed. Good riddance."

Sinead crossed her arms to ward off the icy wind. "What happened?"

"Lord of the house finally got what was coming to him is all I know. All I care to know." She looked Sinead up and down, her scowl slipping just a fraction. "Keep on the main road until you hit the docks, you'll find an old fisherman by the name of Baston, peddling his excuse for redfish. He might be able to tell you more. His youngest is mixed up in all of this. Tell him that Dista sent you."

Sinead shot her a genuine smile. "Appreciate it."

The woman grimaced. "Yeah, yeah, just let me get back to work." She brandished her crowbar in a vaguely threatening manner and waited until they started down the street.

The sharp smell of fish and brine permeated the air long before the docks came into view. The last buildings fell away, and Sinead got an uninterrupted view of the sea that glittered in the sun, throwing up clouds of freezing mist whenever a great wave broke against the harbor wall. The air was filled with bird squawks and shouts from fishermen. A single fishing trawler was docked and in the process of being unloaded. Straining her eyes, Sinead could see more vessels out on the ocean as small black dots. It all reminded her of the great spaceports she'd spend most of her childhood in, trying not to get in the way of burly workers who didn't have time to entertain a curious girl.

In one end of the docks, out of the way of most of the traffic, a collection of stalls made from bleached driftwood sold fish lying on beds of ice or hung on racks, dried and salted. The birds were more concentrated here, watching the fish with empty, evil eyes.

They quickly found Baston manning one of the stalls. He was a short man with a thick grey beard, selling fish that were indeed rather sad looking. He grinned when they neared, not at all discouraged by Mando's intimidating presence.

"Hello there! S'not often we get strangers here. What can I get you?"

Sinead was about to answer when the kid made a noise and kicking his little feet, eyes fixated on the row of dried fish behind Baston.

"I guess we'll take a fish for the kid." Sinead gave him a couple of credits, and he plucked a dried fish off the rack and handed it to the child.

"What brings you all the way out here? New faces are a rare treat this close to Wild Space." Baston's eyes strayed briefly to the Mandalorian. He was remarkably calm in the face of Mando.

"Dista sent us. She said to ask you what happened up in that big house." Sinead gestured to the dark palace.

A shadow came over Baston's face. "Why do you want to know?"

"I …" she bit her lower lip. "I'm looking for someone. Might have been through the palace some time ago."

Baston nodded to himself. "Happened some cycles ago. Don't know how long in your time, don't have much use of that out here." He was silent for a moment, his lips moving while he gathered his thoughts. "One of the king's men went an' killed him. The king was a bastard, but what followed wasn't much better to tell you the truth."

"He took over?" Sinead asked.

"For a little while. Think he got bored. We're fishermen, we haven't much need for governing around here, not really." Baston seemed like a totally different man once the smile fell from his face. "Never thought I'd be missing the old king, but this man was something else. Don't think I ever saw such a nasty man in all my life. What a terror. Say, who were you looking for again?"

She took a deep breath. "He might have been a slave in the palace. From Loovria."

Baston nodded slowly. "Old king had a few of those. Like I said, he was a bastard. What's the name? I might have known him?"

Sinead's stomach knotted in fear and nauseating hope.

"Kyen Beck."

Baston's face twisted in fury. "You think this is funny?"

"What are you talking about?"

He came out from behind his stall, jabbing a finger at Sinead, who took a step back. Mando shifted the kid to his other arm, ready to draw his blaster.

"How dare you! Coming here, asking me questions like this! I don't want that tyrant back, not again."

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

He finally seemed to catch on. "You … you really don't know?"

She folded her arms across her chest. "Obviously not."

"Who do you think killed the king? Beck terrorized us for more than a cycle before pissing off to who knows where!"

At first the words didn't register. Kyen terrorizing anyone? That couldn't be true.

"You're wrong." Her voice was hollow.

Baston spat on the ground, all signs of the jolly old man gone. "Not something I'm liable to forget."

"You know where he is now?" Mando said, not relaxing his stance.

"Not here. He stole a ship and took a crew. My guess is he's out tyrannizing the Outer Rim, the good-for-nothing pirate. Calls himself Red Vekkass last I heard."

Kyen? A pirate?

"No!" The word exploded out of her mouth, making passerby's stop and stare. "Kyen would never do that!"

"Apparently, you don't know him as well as you think you do. My idiot son went with him, thinks a life of crime is better than staying here in safety."

"You're wrong!" Her face was flushed and the sudden anger made her dizzy.

"Sinead-" Mando began, grabbing her elbow to pull her back.

She wrenched her arm away from him. "Don't touch me!"

The kid made a worried sound, his little face contorted in a frown.

Mando clenched his fist and let it fall to his side. "Move. Now." His voice was dangerously low.

"But-"

"_Now."_

Once they were off the dock, Sinead exploded. "Kyen would never do something like that! Not in a million years."

Mando stopped abruptly and put the child down on a barrel and turned to face her with his arms stiffly by his side. "It's been years. You said yourself, we all do things in the name of survival."

Sinead looked like she'd been slapped. She _felt _like she'd been slapped. "Not like this." Her eyes prickled, and she stared up at the sky. "You don't understand ..."

He remained silent.

"I ..." She took a shuddering breath, forcing the tears not to spill. "I wasn't born a slave. Already told you that ... my parents ran goods across the galaxy. We were ... pirates boarded the ship. They killed everyone ... except for me." She swallowed thickly, feeling at once hollow and drowning in memories she usually kept buried deep in her mind. "That's how I ended up on Srilurr." _And I never told anyone except Kyen - and you._

If Mando had been still before, he was now a statue, glinting coldly in the morning air.

"Kyen wouldn't do that. Not to me."

Mando cleared his throat, flexing his fingers. "I ... I didn't know."

"Nobody did." She breathed deeply, trying to keep herself from falling to pieces; if she were falling anywhere, it wouldn't be in front of Mando and the kid, who was watching silently from the sideline.

"Do you want to go after him?"

And just like that, grief was replaced with red-hot anger that pooled in her stomach and made her eyes twitch. How dare he ask her that? Like she would just give up after all that time and effort!

Small hands touched her calf, and she looked down into big black eyes. Somehow the child had gotten down from his perch and was gripping her around the leg, giving her the most worried look she'd ever seen on such a small face. The anger didn't ebb out, but slowly it receded enough for her to rein it in.

Picking him up, he settled against her chest, where he left a greasy handprint on her jacket. "Let's just get out of here." Her voice shook with barely concealed anger.

Mando nodded and stepped to the side, letting her lead the way back to the ship in silence.


	18. Bad Company

**A/N: Another chapter for you guys. You should know I've been singing Bad Company at the top of my lungs for a day now, so my roommate might actually kill me before I get the next update out. Soz.**

**This last week FFN has been kinda on the fritz, not updating with new chapter and stuff like that, so I just want to say again that I crosspost on AO3 under the same pen name. Just in case FFN suddenly crashes and burns.**

Chapter 18 – Bad Company

Sinead sat down in the belly of the Razor Crest, turning the Loovrian emblem over and over, as if she just turned it for long enough, it would somehow give her the answer she needed. She should be angry. She wanted to be angry, but all she felt was a numbness, cold and empty as the void that hurtled past outside the ship.

The quiet of the ship was only broken up by the hum from the engine and the occasional sound from the child who slept in his crib.

The emblem was heating up between her fingers. She ran a thumb across one of the force pikes, gnawing at her lip. A small but insistent thought kept popping up, unbidden: what if that little emblem had stayed hidden on Celvalara and they'd never gone to Loovria. Would the trail have gone cold? Would she have kept searching until finally one day she'd just give up? Hand over the whip to Mando for service rendered and just ... stopped?

Her long train of thought was shattered when someone cleared their throat. Mando stood by the ladder to the cockpit, fiddling with his gauntlet. They hadn't talked since Seavo. Her little outburst made her toes curl in embarrassment.

"I, uh ..." his voice was rougher than usual. "I know someone who might have information on Vekkass."

Sinead slipped the emblem into her pocket and sat up straighter. "Who?"

"He's a former ... associate. Works out of a station in the Tammuz sector."

Associate was a carefully neutral word and could really mean anything. Still, it wasn't like they had anything better to go on.

"It's not Guild," he said, interpreting her silence as reluctance. "And we're running low on credits. Ship's nearly out of fuel."

She hadn't even noticed that, too caught up in her own thoughts. "Sure. Why not," she said and let her eyes wander to the sleeping kid, who made a little gurgling sound at the back of his throat.

Mando stayed there, his head slightly tilted to the side like he wanted to say something. The silence stretched out between them, neither one wanting to break it. At last, Mando nodded once and climbed up the ladder, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

She pulled out the emblem and started turning it.

... ... ... ... ...

The ship dropped out of hyperspace with a lurch and a dull boom. Straight ahead the space station was a small blinking light amidst the stars, easy to miss unless you knew what you were looking for. Sinead breathed out, her stomach already in knots of nerves.

"You should stay in the ship," Mando said, not taking his eyes off the slowly approaching station.

"Why? I thought you knew these people."

He sighed and was quiet for a couple of seconds. "Ran and I used to work together. A long time ago. He always kept an eye on the underworld."

She leaned further into her seat, trying to dispel the still growing feeling of foreboding. "Let's hope he's kept an eye on this one. And what does he want you to do in return?"

"He said he had a job."

"Right. So why do you want me to hide in the ship."

"It's just ... easier to do it this way. I don't want the kid mixed into all of this."

Sinead looked at the child who sat in his little seat, the Mandalorian doll clamped under one arm. That made sense. If it was up to her, none of them would go anywhere near the station.

"Okay. I'll do it if you keep a comlink on you. I want to know what's going on."

"Fine." The word came out as a sigh. He led her down into the hull and told her to crawl onto the bunk. Once she'd folded her legs on the thin mattress, he placed the kid on her lap.

"I'm pretty sure that if someone looks inside, they're gonna see me."

Mando stepped back and touched a small keypad on the side of the bed, and metal panels slid down with a whir, cutting her off from the rest of the ship. It wasn't a bed. It was a safe room. Only faint light found a way through minuscule cracks along the otherwise solid hatch. She pressed a hand against the cold surface.

"It won't be long." Mando's voice was muffled through the thick barrier. She could hear him return to the cockpit.

The kid looked up at her and babbled softly, his eyes unfathomably deep and much wiser than a small child had any business being.

"Won't be long," Sinead mumbled and closed her eyes.

A shudder and creak went through the ship as it touched down on the station. Once Mando had left the ship, Sinead turned on the comlink and held it up to her ear, closing her eyes as if dimming one sense would strengthen another.

"…ando." A faint voice came through the comlink. "…at you under that bucket?"

"Ran." Mando sounded guarded.

"…know if I'd ever see you..." The voice kept falling out, and Sinead pressed the comlink harder against her ear, screwing her eyes tightly shut. "…surprised when you reached out to me. You know, cause I … I hear things…between you and the Guild aren't working out."

She jumped when Mando's voice exploded out of the comlink.

"I'm not working with the Guild on this one. I need some information."

"Might be able to help…" there was a long silence where she thought Mando might have turned off the commlink. And then, "…after the job."

Sinead's hand clenched into a fist on her thigh. Of course, it would never be that easy. From the snippets heard through the comlink, they were going to need the ship. It was hard following what was happening, but it sounded like Mando was being introduced to the rest of the team. Her heart skipped a beat when one of them turned out to be an ex-Imperial. It wasn't like she had never associated with criminals, and her past wasn't squeaky clean either, but the combination of criminal and ex-Imperial sounded like a recipe for disaster.

The more she listened, the more it dawned on her that she didn't know Mando, not really, even though they had been traveling together for quite some time. She didn't even know his real name. She had never asked him.

"I thought you said you had four," Mando said.

"He does." This voice was new, sounding feminine and husky at the same time.

"Xi'an." Mando sounded guarded.

This Xi'an moved closer, her voice becoming clearer. "Tell me why I shouldn't cut you down where you stand?"

Sinead's hand closed around her blaster until she realized with a sinking feeling that she didn't know how to get out of there. For some reason, she had allowed someone to lock her in a tiny box without a second thought.

"Nice to see you too," Mando said in an even voice, proving that she had not cut him down.

Xi'an spoke again, her voice so loud she must have been standing right on top of Mando. "I missed you," she purred.

Missed Mando?

"This is shiny. You wear it well."

"Do we need to leave the room or something?" Another voice. Maybe Mayfeld?

"Well, Xi'an's been a little heartbroken since Mando left our group," said Ran.

What?

"Aww. You gonna be okay, sweetheart?"

"I'm all business now. Learned from the best."

"All right, lovebirds. Break it up till you get on the ship. Right now, we don't have much time."

Sinead turned the comlink off just in time before someone made their way into the ship. Every step they took clanged through the ship. It was either a droid or someone wearing shoes with metal soles. She pulled out her blaster and laid it out of reach of the kid but close enough that she could grab it in seconds.

"We sure this thing even flies?" A voice said suddenly, close to the safe room.

"S'worse than I remember," Xi'an said. "Never thought about getting an upgrade, Mando?"

There was a grunt of laughter, which cut off abruptly when the ship started up again. Something heavy moved around just outside the safe room.

"Scared of flying, big guy?" Mayfeld said.

A deep voice rumbled out, "shut it." So that was Burg.

"Will you sit. Down," A female voice ground out. Xi'an.

There was a bang when something slammed against the side of the ship, and then the sound of shuffling feet right outside the safe room. Sinead swallowed thickly.

"Hey, hey, hey," Mayfeld said. "I get it. I'm a little particular about my personal space, too, so let's just do this job. We get in, we get out, and you don't have to see our faces anymore."

"Someone tell me why we even need a Mandalorian?"

Mayfeld said, "Well, apparently they're the greatest warriors in the galaxy. So they say."

"Then why are they all dead?"

That triggered a tittering of laughter across the hull. Sinead's grip on her blaster tightened until her knuckles were white.

"Well, you flew with him, Xi'an," Mayfeld continued, oblivious or indifferent to the tension that Sinead could feel all the way through the thick metal plates. "Is he as good as they say?"

"Ask him about the job on Alzoc III."

Sinead had thought that Mando wouldn't reply, but to her surprise, he said, "I did what I had to."

Images of what he might have 'had to' flashed through her mind.

"Oh, but you liked it. See, I know who you really are."

"He never takes off the helmet?" Mayfeld asked.

Xi'an squeaked out another laugh. "This is the way," her voice was a deep mockery of Mando's. Sinead had to ask him about that later.

"Hmm ... I wonder what you look like under there. Maybe he's a Gungan. Is that why yousa don't wanna show your face? You ever seen his face?"

"A lady ... never tells."

There was a new, malicious quality to Mayfeld's voice. "Aw, come on, Mando. We all gotta trust each other here. You gotta show us something. Come on, just lift the helmet up. Come on. Let's all see your eyes."

Sinead's heart was pounding.

Burg let out a bark of laughter. "I'll do it."

There were sounds of fighting and then—

The safe room opened with a whoosh. Sinead's hand shook as instincts screamed to draw her blaster, and the logical part of her brain screamed that she shouldn't start a firefight with the child on her lap. Logic won out in the end.

A bald human jumped to his feet. "Who the hell are you?" So that was Mayfeld. "Mando, who the hell is she?"

Beside him, a purple-skinned Twi'lek appeared, spinning a throwing knife around her finger and staring intently at the newly revealed Sinead. Two filed canines poked out over her lower lip; it was the first time Sinead had seen a female Twi'lek with filed teeth. "How interesting," she purred. Xi'an. That just left Burg, who turned out to be a huge Devaronian even by Devaronian standards.

Slowly, Sinead got to her feet while holding the child tightly against her chest. Mando had frozen in place, and

"You get lonely up here, buddy?" Mayfeld looked her up and down, and Sinead wanted to crawl back into the safe room and close it up. She barely managed to repress a recoil.

"I hired the Mandalorian to take me to Neth safely. There are so many unsavory types in the Outer Rim." She didn't take her eyes off Mayfeld.

The kid made a small sound.

"What is that?" Mayfeld walked closer to get a better look at the child. "Is it like a pet or something?"

"Yeah. Something like that," Mando said quietly. Hands balled into fists at his side, his helmeted face had been trained on Sinead ever since the safe room had opened.

"My, my," Xi'an said, moving across the floor in a fluid motion to stand in Mando's space, tilting her head to look at him through her lashes. "Pets and damsels in distress. Didn't think you were the type. Has that code of yours made you soft?"

Mando stood silent and still as a statue, the blank helmet an intimidating sight, but Xi'an didn't seem to worry. A smirk spread across her face.

Sinead hadn't noticed Mayfeld before he was too close and reaching out for the child, a sort of cold curiosity in his eyes. She moved back without thinking, hitting the side of the bunk.

"What, don't wanna let me hold it?" He did not try to take the kid again but kept standing uncomfortably close. "You think I'm gonna hurt it or something?"

You wouldn't hesitate.

"How do you know he won't hurt you? He might bite."

Mayfeld bared his teeth in a smile. Suddenly, his hand shot out and nearly grabbed the child. Both Sinead and Mando flinched, and the hull was filled with laughter.

"Relax," Mayfeld said, finally stepping back. "I'm starting to think you might be hiding something."

Sinead forced herself to breathe slowly, meeting his eyes calmly, coldly.

A disembodied metallic voice filled the hull. "Dropping out of hyperspace. Now." The ship shook as it dropped back into the real dimension. Sinead sat down on the bunk, holding tightly on to the kid, who giggled softly in her arms. This was Tatooine all over again.

When it seemed like the ship had evened out, Sinead got to her feet again.

"Commencing final approach. Now. Cloaking signal. Now."

Without further warning, the ship flipped sideways. It felt like the gravity generator had malfunctioned. Sinead was lifted off her feet, weightless for a moment, before she was slammed into the side of the ship with a bruising force, biting her tongue in the process.

"Engaging coupling. Now."

The ship swerved one last time before landing on a solid surface, the resulting boom more felt than heard.

"Coupling confirmed. We are down. And relax."

Sinead unfurled from her awkward fetal position that had saved the kid from being thrown clean across the hull and stood. Her shoulder, the one that got acquainted with the metal wall, throbbed. She looked up to see Mando watching her, giving her a single inconspicuous nod.

"Commence extraction. Now."

Xi'an got to her feet with a snarl. "That useless droid didn't even give us a proper countdown!"

Burg threw two crates across the floor with a grunt. The kid jumped when they crashed to the ground, and she bit her already bleeding tongue hard not to snap at the Devaronian.

"Zee," Mayfeld called up to the cockpit, "you sure they can't see us?"

The voice warbled out again, "the Razor Crest is scrambling our signature, and I'm inside the prison system. It's impressive that this gunship has survived the Empire without being impounded."

They were breaking into a prison? Sinead let out a long breath and stared hard at Mando, who once again was an impregnable statue. Before Sinead could ask, he was called away to hack the hatch to the prison. She hadn't felt the telltale rumble of the ship going through the atmosphere, which meant they were still in space.

Xi'an bounced lightly on the balls of her feet while watching Mando work. Her dark eyes glittered in the sudden light when the hatch opened to a sterile white hallway that seemed blinding in the perpetual dimly lit Crest.

One after one, the temporary crew dropped through the hatch until only Mando was left. He turned towards her. "Keep an eye on the droid." His voice was low and tight. "Don't let it see the kid. This is a New Republic prison transport, be ready to leave in a hurry."

"Be careful." It came out as an awkward croak and she shifted the child to another arm to avoid his eyes.

Mando climbed down the hatch, and Sinead closed her eyes for a second before placing the kid in the safe room. "You'll be safer in there," she whispered to the little guy. His ears lifted, which she took as a sign of understanding and pressed the button to shut the safe room tight.

It was strange seeing a droid in Mando's seat, watching the monitor with the kind of rapt yet detached attention that only a droid could have. She recognized it as a protocol droid, made to translate and serve. It had no inbuilt weapons, which explained the blaster rifle leaning against the chair.

The droid turned when she appeared in the doorway. "You are not supposed to be here."

Sinead didn't bat an eye at the droid's lack of manners; having spent any time in the Outer Rim, it wasn't the first droid with wonky programming she'd met. "And yet here I am."

The droid stared at her for an uncomfortable amount of time before turning wordlessly back to the screen.

She stood behind it, watching the four red dots make their way through the facility. The droid guided them down corridors towards the control room, all the while completely ignoring her presence.

This was the second time in a very short period that Sinead had sat useless in the ship, trying to piece together what was happening from scratchy soundbites and the jumbled screen. It was clear that everything did not go according to plan.

"It seems your presence has been detected. Redirecting security alert away from your position," the droid said as the screen flashed red.

Sinead grabbed the back of the pilot chair so hard the metal cut into her hand.

"Zee, open the door!" came Mayfeld's voice through the commlink.

"I'm detecting an organic signature," the droid said. A fifth red dot had appeared on the screen.

"Yeah, okay, all right. Just open the door!"

A new wave of uselessness wrenched her gut as she stood there listening to Mando trying to talk a lone guard down. It was hard to parse what happened precisely, but the end was all too clear: the guard died, and with that shit hit the fan.

"Idiots," Sinead hissed between her teeth, watching the screen with unblinking eyes as if she could somehow reach in and smack whoever was responsible for bringing down the New Republic on their heads. There was a big difference between a jailbreak and a jailbreak that left a corpse behind.

An alarm blared through the ship, making Sinead jump.

The droid adjusted its scomp link, and the alarm fell silent.

"Zero to Mayfeld. Zero to Mayfeld," it droned. "I detected a New Republic distress signal homing in on your location. You have approximately 20 minutes."

Was that really enough time to get out of there? A million scenarios whirled through her head, adding to the feeling of dread that followed her like a shadow.

Zero suddenly rose from the pilot seat, and Sinead took a step back, giving the bug-eyed droid a guarded look. "What are you-"

It swung its metal arm at her face.

She reacted instinctively, throwing up a hand to catch it. The force knocked her off her feet; she landed on the floor with a loud thud, letting out a sharp cry as her bruised shoulder was wrenched into an unnatural angle.

Sinead let out a feral snarl, trying to get to her feet while pushing Zero away. The droid pushed her down with strength it shouldn't have possessed.

"Do not resist," it said in its calm, metallic voice. A hand came out of nowhere and whacked her on the head.

Ears ringing, head throbbing, she flailed blindly against it.

Zero's vice-like grip closed around her wrists, and she kicked against it, screaming, spitting. Before she could wriggle away, he wrapped a thin binding wire around her wrists and fastened it to a metal bar under the seat.

"Fuck you!" She kicked wildly, trying to trip the droid, do _something_, but he ignored her, taking her blaster and sitting back in the pilot seat.

The droid ignored her. There was a whirring sound when it turned its scomp link, and a translucent figure appeared above the dashboard. The blue light reflected on Zero's metal body, and Sinead lifted her head to see the recording.

_"M-Man-M-Mando-o-o." _The projection flickered and skipped, the image stretching in strange contortions. Sinead didn't recognize the human, but something told her he was bad news. _"Mando, I received-received your tra-transmission. U-upon your return, deliver-liver the quarry directly to the client."_

Cold dread washed over Sinead, wrenching a hollow gasp from her chest.

"Interesting," Zero turned off the transmission.

"No." It took a second for Sinead to realize she had said it out loud. Her voice shook. "If you touch a _single _hair on his head, I'll-"

Mayfeld's voice filled the cockpit. _"Zero, we got Qin. Mando's done."_

Done? As in …

"I found some information on the Mandalorian from the Bounty Hunters' Guild," the droid said.

With renewed energy, Sinead tried getting free, but the thin wire held, cutting a red line into her wrist; the pain was dulled by fear and adrenaline. The edges of her vision blurred.

_"Yeah yeah, do whatever. Just get us off this ship."_

"I have neutralized the human. What shall I do with her?"

_"I don't give a shit, Zee! Shoot her in the fucking head, just get rid of her!"_

The droid turned and looked at her. "Affirmative. You have 10 minutes remaining."

Zero stood, pulling its blaster rifle with a fluid, mechanical motion. It stepped around the pilot seat and towered above her.

The rifle clicked, loud as a cannon.

Everything faded into shadow, even the sound of blood rushing in her ears.

She closed her eyes.

Nothing happened.

After an eternity, she chanced a peek.

The monitor was trilling a steady stream of beeps. Zero had moved back to the pilot seat.

The world screeched to a halt. She released a shuttering breath.

"Zero to Mayfeld," the droid said. "You have a potential problem. He has escaped."

At first, Sinead didn't believe her own ears. He had escaped? Mando wasn't dead?

A hysterical giggle bubbled to the surface, and she shook with adrenaline. They were so fucked.

Relief soured into cold fear when the child appeared in the doorway, tilting his head with a curious stare. He seemed impossibly small standing alone on the floor.

_Go! _Sinead mouthed, trying to nudge him back with her foot.

Zero hadn't noticed him. "Zero to Mayfeld. Mayfeld, do you copy?" White noise came from the comm, and the monitor faded into static. "It seems comms are no longer functioning, therefore, you cannot hear me. You are on your own."

_Please, go!_ If she thought it loud enough, maybe the kid would hear it.

He did not. Instead, he smiled toothily at Sinead and cooed softly. Her heart stopped when Zero turned around.

"Curious," it said in its flat voice, turning to grab its rifle that lay across the dashboard.

"No!" The scream ripped from Sinead's mouth. The edge of her vision blackened until there was only the droid.

Zero stood and froze. Sinead craned her neck back to see that the child had disappeared back into the ship, and she let out a shuddering breath. Zero stepped over her and jumped down the hatch, leaving her alone in the cockpit.

Frantically, she started pulling with all her might, the wire biting farther into her skin.

She looked around, blinking sweat out of her eyes, searching for something, anything, that could help, when her eyes fell on a small black instrument lying on the console—a fusing pen.

A dull thud rose from the hull and spurred her into action; rolling onto her shoulder with a grunt, she contorted her body in ways it wasn't meant to do. Tears welled up in her eyes as her muscles spasmed. It felt like she was being torn in two.

Her flailing foot caught the instrument, and it clattered to the ground. Rolling onto her side, she pushed it closer until she could grab it from the floor with her mouth, finally dropping it into her waiting hand.

The pen came to life, and she nearly dropped it as it burned through the wire, leaving circular burns on her wrist.

The binding wire fell away and with it every last coherent thought in Sinead's brain. She scrambled to her feet and stumbled out of the cockpit, shoulders heaving with every pant. Numbly, she grabbed a warped length of pipe forgotten on the floor and dropped into the hull.

The safe room opened just as her feet hit the ground. Time slowed.

She swung the pipe with both hands, and the droid's bulbous eyes exploded in a shower of glass, knocking it to the ground.

It raised its hand. "Do not-"

She brought the pipe down, again and again. A strangled scream tore from her chest as she smashed through the metal shell, exposing wires and circuitry. Foul-smelling oil leaked onto the floor.

A burst of sparks crawled up the droid's broken body, and with that, its lights went out.

The pipe slid out of her hands and landed on the floor with a dull thud.

Mando was watching her silently, standing by the open hatch. After a long moment, he took a deep breath.

The floor spun. With every breath Sinead's shoulders heaved like she had run a marathon.

A slight babble broke the silence. The kid watched her, head tilted to the side, ears lifted in earnest curiosity.

"It's okay." She picked him up with hands that still shook. "It's over." It was more for her benefit than his.

Someone hoisted themselves into the ship from the hatch and stood, a Twi'lek male with the same purple skin. He was built like a tank, his barrel-like chest seeming larger under a dirty tank top. "Can't say I missed this hunk of junk." His voice was like sandpaper, and when his eyes fell on Sinead and the broken husk of Zero, he flashed a pointy-toothed smile.

"Where's the others?" Her voice was surprisingly even, considering her entire body still strummed with adrenaline.

"Later," Mando ground out. He lifted the child out of her arms, never turning his back on the Twi'lek, whose, Sinead realized, hands were bound with thick durasteel manacles. She touched her wrist where the binding wire had cut deep into the soft skin.

"Keep an eye on him," Mando said in a low voice. "Do not trust him."

She nodded once, feeling the aftereffects of the adrenaline start to kick in. Her legs felt weak, and every sound was dulled but somehow still echoed in her head.

Mando and the child disappeared up the ladder, and the ship broke off from the transport. Sinead picked up Zero's blaster rifle and propped it against her leg.

"So you hate droids just as much as old Mando up there?" He said, looking pointedly at the jagged metal remains of Zero.

She stared at him.

He narrowed his eyes. "What was that little green thing? Didn't look like nothing I've seen before."

"Pet."

"You're almost as talkative as Mando." He leaned his head back against the fall, still not taking his eyes off her. "Wanna know how I ended up rotting on a prison transport."

"Guess you're gonna tell me either way."

The Twi'lek bared his pointed teeth in a grin. "Mando up there-" he pointed upwards with his bound hands- "left me behind to get picked up by those kriffin' New Republic bastards. Threw me in a cage without even a proper trial. Now he's left my only sister to the same fate. That ain't right." He didn't seem too torn up about it. "That's what Mando does. He leaves people behind."

"Everyone has their reasons."

The Twi'lek's eyes darkened. "He has his code, always do the job. Load of shit."

The ship exited hyperspace, and Sinead breathed a sigh of relief. Nauseating pain radiated through her head, and she wanted this stranger off the ship.

The Crest landed, and Mando jumped down the ladder without the child. Sinead watched with mistrustful eyes as Mando freed the Twi'lek, who made a show of rubbing his wrists once the bindings fell away.

The ramp came down and revealed a human man with unruly grey hair and beard. His beady eyes narrowed when he spotted Sinead leaning against the opening.

When the Twi'lek saw Ran, he let out a gruff laugh and sauntered down the ramp. Mando followed behind him, walking stiffly like he was a spring ready to be released, and Sinead imagined him scanning the hangar for danger.

"Where are the others?" Asked Ran, scanning the ship as if he expected the rest of the crew to come running down the ramp.

"No questions asked. That's the policy, right?"

Ran bared his teeth, more sneer than smirk. "Yeah. That is the policy."

"I did the job."

"Yeah, you did," Ran said, pulling out a pouch with deliberate slowness and throwing it to Mando, who caught it easily.

"And the information you promised me?"

"What's he talking about?" The Twi'lek said.

Ran's eyes flickered to Sinead. "Since you got Qin and left the team behind, I figure it's fair you only get half the reward."

The Twi'lek sniggered.

"Ran ..." Mando's stance shifted slightly, hand inching towards his blaster. Sinead pushed off the wall, leaning back to eye the blaster rifle propped up against the bed.

"Mando." Ran's voice was even. They stared at each other for a moment, neither moving a muscle.

Mando's hand's curled into fists, and for a moment, it looked like he was about to deck Ran. Instead, he turned and stalked up the ramp.

Anger flashed through Sinead's system. They'd all nearly been killed and it had all for nothing.

"Mando!"

He stopped and slowly turned.

"The fella you're looking for. Dunno where he is, but I heard some of his crew hangs around Alpha on Zessol. Might wanna check it out."

Mando was silent for a moment before giving him a curt nod, still moving backwards into the ship. When he was inside, Sinead pressed the button to close the ramp.

"Zessol, huh?" Sinead had heard stories about Alpha, an old space station hovering above the planet, but she had never been there herself. Complicated emotions swirled in her chest. "You ever been there?"

But Mando had disappeared. As soon as the ramp closed, he had hurried up the ladder and was already starting the ship when Sinead entered the cockpit. It wobbled as it rose and floated towards the exit.

Sinead sat down in the same chair she'd been bound to what felt like ages ago and drummed her hands on her thighs. "You think they'll try something?"

"Yep," Mando said, activating the thrusters while the ship was still a bit too close to the station.

"And what are you gonna do about it?"

"Left a tracking beacon on Qin."

Three fighters dropped out of hyperspace in front of the Crest. Sinead's stomach flipped as the ship dove to avoid a collision. She smiled for the first time in what felt like an eternity. "Wanna stay and watch the show?"

Mando replied by jumpstarting the ship into hyperspace, the sheer force making the metal creak. "Zessol is on the other side of the galaxy. It'll take days to get there."

"I guess." Sinead reached over and grabbed the child's hand, pulling his attention from the swirling mist right outside the window. "Would've been nice to see, though."

Mando hummed in response.

The child nearly fell from his seat as he tried to climb across Sinead's arm. She pulled him onto her lap, letting him play with the end of her frazzled braid.

"What _did _you do to the others?"

"Left them in a cell. Let the New Republic deal with it."

"Because they're so good at that." She thought back to the slave ring on Loovria, operating right under the New Republic's nose.

Mando grunted, and they both fell silent. The navicomputer calculating the fastest route. 83 standard hours before they would arrive at Zessol. 83 hours until she got some answers. A hard ball of nauseating fear formed deep in her stomach. 83 hours.


	19. Shelter

**A/N: It took exactly 3 weeks to mess up my update schedule, but I'm pretty sure this chapter makes up for it. Also shout out to all the Supernatural fans out there! I jumped ship around season 7, but I just watched the finale and I really don't know what to say. Y tho?**

Chapter 19 – Shelter

"No!"

With a sigh, Sinead grabbed the little pincushion previously balanced on her leg and pulled it out of reach of the child, who had been in the middle of pulling out one of the needles. No matter where she put it, he always found a way to get his hands on it.

She was mending a rip in her shirt, grateful for the distraction from the flurry of thoughts that kept running through her head without ever coming to any real conclusion. It was exhausting how she kept getting pulled in different directions, one second happy, the next ready to crawl under her thin blanket and never come out again.

Eventually, she grabbed some needle and thread and started on some of her clothes that were more hole than fabric at this point. It felt good concentrating on something, the repetitive movement of the needle strangely calming.

The child sat beside her and followed every movement with his big, bottomless eyes.

She had just finished the last stitch when, without warning, all light flickered off. The ship started shaking violently, and she dropped the shirt to grab the kid before he fell off the bunk. Somewhere in the pitch-black something crashed to the floor.

As quickly as it had begun, the shaking stopped and left behind an eerie silence. The telltale hum of the engine was gone.

Sinead pressed a hand to her forehead and breathed out slowly, trying to still her hammering heart.

The kid giggled.

"Oh, you think this is funny, huh?"

He babbled a reply.

"Okay, then."

Carefully, Sinead got up with the kid safely tucked into her arms and made her way over to the ladder, where she climbed into the cockpit one slow step at a time. The ship was entirely dead.

The cockpit was bathed in a cold blue glow from a star directly ahead, with a single planet orbiting it.

"What happened? Is that Zessol?"

Mando unfurled from where he had been crouched under the control panel, with a small torch affixed to his helmet. The light reflected off his armor. "I don't know. Ship suddenly lost power and dropped out of hyperspeed." He disappeared under the controls again.

Sinead strapped the kid into his seay and plopped down onto her own. It was too dark to go poking around the controls, and she would probably be more hindrance than help.

"Damn it!"

"What's wrong?"

"The energy cycler got fried when we dropped out of hyperspace."

"Can you unfry it?"

"… maybe." Mando got to his feet, mumbling a long string of Mando'a. He went to the navicomputer and pulled off a metal panel underneath it, exposing a mess of wires. After a couple of minutes, it sparked, and the controls lit up, piercing red in the darkness.

"Life support's back on. At least we won't suffocate."

"We still might," Mando said, trying and failing to turn on the engine. "The star's interfering with the comm system. I can't send out an SOS."

"Aren't you just a ray of sunshine," Sinead mumbled, trying to keep the growing worry at bay. She reached for the kid. "You okay, space bug?"

The kid babbled a string of nonsense, seeming totally unconcerned about their situation.

Suddenly, the ship lurched forward, catching Sinead off guard, and she hurriedly strapped herself into her chair. The turbines were still off, but Mando had managed to patch into the back thrusters, slowly sending the ship towards the planet which seemed pitch black against the backdrop of the star.

"You think we can make it in time?"

"We have to."

The planet slowly turned green the closer they got, details appearing the closer they got. As the ship entered the planet's orbital pull, it started shaking so hard that Sinead's teeth rattled.

She had to force the words out of her mouth. "You sure you can land it?"

Mando didn't reply. She was grateful for that.

The green surface turned into a forest that had to span most of the planet's surface. Very slowly, Mando let the Crest drop inch by inch until it flew just above the canopy. Sinead held her breath.

Finally, Mando spotted a clearing and angled the ship towards it. They touched down with an echoing boom, sending Sinead's head spinning from the sudden stop.

Stepping out of the ship was like stepping into another world; light came down through the leaves, creating flickering shadows on the ground whenever the wind rustled through the trees. A thick layer of decomposing leaves made the ground feel soft and swallowed the sound of Sinead's footsteps as she walked off the ramp. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. There were no soldiers to fight, no arena to infiltrate, no droids to smash. For a moment, there was only the breeze and the sweet smell of earth.

The peace was broken by Mando, who let out a frustrated grunt. He ducked under the ship and was poking around a bit of exposed machinery, the covering lying on the ground by his feet.

"Doesn't look good?" Sinead said even though she already knew the answer.

Mando slotted the cover back into place with more force than necessary. "The cooling unit is shot. We won't get through the atmosphere without it."

"I don't suppose you have a cooling unit lying around somewhere, do you?"

He pointedly ignored her. "I think there's still enough power to scan the planet. Watch the kid, okay?"

The child came shuffling down the ramp, his big eyes growing bigger as he took in the new surroundings. When his feet hit the ground, he bent down and buried his hands in the dirt. After a moment he pulled out a fat worm that wriggled furiously in his hand.

"Hey, no, don't-"

She started running, but it was too late. The kid popped the worm, dirt and all, into his mouth.

"No!" Lifting him up, she gave him her most stern look. "No. Spit it out."

The kid gave her a toothy smile.

"Spit … oh what the hell. I have no idea what you are, you could just as well have an entirely worm-based diet."

Mando appeared in the opening of the ship and looked up at the bright sky. "The closest settlement is about a day's travel. You two can stay here."

Sinead looked at the quiet ship and chewed on her lower lip. Staying an entire day in one place with only the kid for company meant a long time for certain thoughts to sit and fester. "Or we could go with you. The kid's been cooped up in the ship for too long anyway, all that recycled air can't be good for him."

As if on cue, the child started wiggling in her grasp.

"He'll slow us down."

"I've already waited five years. What're a few extra hours."

Mando watched her for an uncomfortable amount of time, long enough that Sinead started to wonder if she had offended him somehow before he shrugged and disappeared into the ship.

She and the kid waited outside while he gathered supplies. They weren't stocked for a trek through the wilderness, but if the weather kept up and the undergrowth stayed as sparse, it wouldn't be a problem. Once he was ready, they set out in the direction of the settlement, walking slowly while the kid ambled back and forth between them. He kept wandering in front of Sinead whenever something caught his attention, and when he stopped to watch a sprawling anthill, she let out a huff.

"I told you it'd be slow."

"It's fine."

They walked on in silence. The forest teemed with invisible life; birds hid in the treetops where they trilled out a warning as the trio passed by; somewhere far off, an animal bleated, and the sound echoed between the trees. When was the last time she'd felt this calm? Not since before Loovria, at least.

That reminded her ...

"You never told me why you hate droids. Back on Loovria."

"I ... didn't." He fell silent again until Sinead was starting to regret asking. Then again, he had heard her tragic backstory; now it was time to hear his.

"I was ..." he paused again. They passed a lone dead tree that shed white bark in thick curls. "I wasn't born a Mandalorian. My village was attacked by droids. The Mandalorians took me in. Trained me in the Fighting Corps." He spoke slowly like every word had to be carefully considered.

She chanced a quick glance at him, even though his helmet would reveal nothing. He walked stiffly and kept his helmeted face turned away from Sinead.

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

He shrugged.

"You know ..." she said without being sure how to continue. The words hung in the air while she wracked her brain for something to add. "I'm Corellian, but I've only been to the planet a handful of times. My mother hated the place, she never wanted to tell me why. My father was a real Corellian, would've spent the rest of his life among the stars if he could." And in a way, he got his wish in the end. "Now there isn't really any reason to go back." She honestly didn't know why she was telling him this.

Mando was quiet for a long time. He finally looked at her, head slightly tilted to the side. "Sinead doesn't sound like a Corellian name."

That wasn't quite what she'd expected. "That's because it's not. I'm named after an Alderaanian woman who saved my mother's life. She got wounded behind enemy lines, and Alderaanian Sinead dragged her to safety. My mother was never the sentimental type, but I guess getting carried through hostile territory for days leaves an impact."

"She was a soldier?"

"A mercenary. Didn't like being called a soldier, which I always thought was a bit backward. My father was a pilot, ran cargo most of his life." She wanted to ask about his parents but figured she wouldn't press her luck. "He taught me how to fly. It's a shame you won't let me touch the Crest."

"You have flown it."

"Once. And that doesn't count! Your arm was hanging on by a thread; it was either that or stay on Loovria and get eaten by a nexu."

"If it makes it into the air again, you can fly it all you want."

Sinead flashed a smile. "I'm honored."

"Just don't crash it."

"Oh please! Didn't you hear me before? I'm Corellian! We don't crash ships."

Mando's shoulders moved with what might have been a silent snort. "Right."

"It's true. We may do what in certain aviation circles is called a forceful downward trajectory terminating in an acute surface touchdown."

"And is the ship able to take off again?"

"Eventually."

This time she was sure she heard a soft chuckle, and she pursed her lips to keep from smiling. Perhaps the fresh air was getting to him too.

They wandered through a grove of thin white trees with sparse crowns that allowed sunlight to stream through the leaves. Thick moss covered the ground, and Sinead wanted nothing more than to lie down and take a nap between the trees. The kid seemingly had the same idea because when he passed a particularly soft-looking tussock, he slumped down, his little face weary. Sinead scooped him into her arms. "You've had enough walking for now? Lucky for you, you're so small, I can just keep you in my pocket."

"I can take him," Mando said, watching her as she shifted the child to rest on her hip.

"It's fine. You're carrying the supplies. And I think he's already asleep."

"It's a long walk for him."

"Yeah ..." she looked down at the already sleeping child. "You've ever thought about giving him a name?"

"Not really."

"Well, you should. I can't keep calling him kid in my head. Just because you're fine with having no name doesn't mean it works for everyone else. He's gonna grow up very confused."

Mando was silent for a moment. "When the Guild business is over, I'm sure whoever raises him can give him a name."

"What?" Sinead stopped abruptly, staring at him like she'd never seen him before. "You're gonna leave him? Just like that?"

"A ship's no place for a kid."

"I grew up on a ship, and I'm fine."

Mando was silent for a moment. "It's too dangerous. He deserves to grow up somewhere stable."

"And that's impossible if he stays with you?"

He started to walk again, and she hurried to keep up. "You saw what happened on Tatooine, and the droid. What if we hadn't come back to Loovria? It's better this way."

She looked down at the sleeping child in her arms. His small hand had gripped a fold on her jacket. It didn't feel right, Mando without the kid. She didn't know what to say; it wasn't her business, after all, so she changed the subject. "Do you know how old he is? Can't be more than a couple of years, he's so tiny."

"He's 50."

She let out a snort. "Right."

"I'm serious."

"He can't speak, Mando. He's not older than us. Or me, anyway."

"I have the last four digits of his chain code," Mando said, sounding annoyed.

"And what does that mean?"

"That I know his age. It's why his tracking fob is off. It's the only reason the Guild hasn't caught up. Some species mature slower than others."

The kid made a soft sound in his sleep, and Sinead pressed her palm against his head, so warm and fragile. She felt a pang of sadness; even if he was 50 years old, he was still a small kid lost in the galaxy. Who knew how long it had been since he'd last been with his family? "I guess he has enough wrinkles to pass as a 50-year-old." It wasn't very funny, but she didn't know what else to say.

"I think, maybe ..." Mando trailed off.

"Yeah?"

"I think he might be a Strand-Cast."

The word rang a bell and brought Sinead back to a half-remembered conversation overheard on Sriluur. "That's a clone, right?"

Mando shifted the pack on his back. "Close. It's more like a … a type of engineered creature."

That was harder to believe than the kid's age. She studied his small face, trying to find any signs of him being … what? "What makes you think that?"

"I just ... think it's a possibility."

"Hm." She moved the kid from one arm to another, careful not to wake him. "Would explain why the Imps want him back." The implications made her stomach twist, and she subconsciously held him closer. "You notice anything special about him?"

Mando waited for an odd amount of time before he answered, "No. I haven't."

... ... ... ... ...

Din didn't know why he had lied to Sinead. While he usually trusted his senses completely, there was something about the child's powers that made him uncertain of what he had actually seen. The mudhorn had almost caved in his chest, and he had only been saved by the strength of his armor. The ground had shaken as it charged at him, pain exploded across his chest when he breathed. And suddenly, the beast was lifted into the air. The child saved him even though Din wasn't his ally.

There was a tightness in his chest, a phantom pain from the battle with the beast.

They walked until the sky started darkening and the wind picked up. Save for the grove of white trees, the forest stayed the same. The child had woken up sometime before and watched the surroundings with curious eyes. Maybe he thought they were back on Sorgan.

"I think it's starting to rain."

As he turned to Sinead, a raindrop hit his helmet, the sound so much louder in his ears. It was followed by a rapid patter of rain on leaves, and soon the rain came down hard, obscuring his vision.

Sinead was barely visible through the sheets of rain.

"Of course this planet has crazy weather," Sinead shouted over the sound of the rain. "This is on me for thinking we could have a nice walk through the woods."

He peered at Sinead through the rain and the darkness. Water dripped from her hair and into her eyes, and the kid had turned his face into her jacket. With a sigh, he undid the fastenings of his cloak and thrust it at Sinead, hoping that she would take it without a word. She offered him a wan smile. The already sodden fabric was better than nothing.

The ground was soggy, and it wouldn't be long until the whole forest was a muddy swamp. The settlement was hours away, but they couldn't keep going like this.

"We have to find shelter," Din said, motioning for Sinead to follow him through the trees which were running with water, little pools forming between the roots.

"You know, I don't think we're gonna find a cave anywhere near." Sinead held the kid close to her chest, trying to shield him from the worst of it.

"Follow me."

Before long, cold water had soaked through his clothes. He kept glancing back at Sinead, who looked like a misshapen lump under his cloak. The kid had to be freezing.

Desperation crept up his spine, and he started to move faster.

It had come to the point where he would have accepted a hollowed-out tree or a wide branch when his visor indicated there was something between the trees. He pushed through a thicket, wet branches slapping against his armor, and there, in a small clearing, stood an old cabin. The windows were dark and empty, and the roof drooped under the weight of dead leaves. Nobody had been there for a long time. Years of rain and rot had warped the doorframe, and Din had to shoulder it open, the wood nearly buckling with every shove. It finally gave out with a loud crack.

A lantern hung on a hook beside the door, and Din pulled it down. Amazingly, it spluttered to life with a hiss and cast a weak light on the drab surroundings.

The cabin was a single room covered in a thick layer of dust and animal droppings. There was an overpowering smell of mildew and earth, and the last inhabitants had left multiple stringed cans hanging from the ceiling that clattered when the door was forced open. Most of the furniture left behind was broken. There was a mount of ash in the soot-covered fireplace. A single bed had been pushed into the corner.

Sinead hurried into the cabin and turned in a circle. "It's better than the cave on Luria."

"How is he?" The pack thumped to the ground and Din let out a soft grunt. His muscles were stiff and aching.

She pulled back the cloak to reveal the child. "Okay, I think. He's cold."

Din grunted and set to work. It didn't take long before a fire was lit from the remains of a chair Din took apart. There was no way he would be able to find any dry firewood outside. It sounded like the rain had picked up since they entered the hut, coming in near vertically and thudding against the grimy windows.

Sinead sat cross-legged in front of the fire with the kid on her lap. He looked solemnly into the dancing flame and now and again would bite into a piece of bantha jerky with a strange sort of ferocity.

Din watched as Sinead removed her braid and combed through her hair with her fingers. He had never noticed how long it was. She stared into the fire in an almost hypnotized way, her long fingers working through every section of hair. The firelight cast deep shadows on her face, making her look unreal, like a painting.

"Mando?"

He blinked. He hadn't noticed her looking at him.

"You okay?" She tilted her head slightly. "There's room for you by the fire if you want. You must've gotten as soaked as us."

He suddenly became aware of how cold and wet he was, his armor feeling impossibly heavy and constricting. Slowly, he sat beside her and immediately felt the warmth radiating from the fire through layers of beskar and clothing.

"You've really never taken your helmet off in front of anyone?"

He watched her from out of the corner of his eyes, grateful that the helmet hid his face. "Never."

"You weren't born with it. When was the last time someone saw your face?"

The fire crackled and threw up sparks.

"When the Mandalorians took me in. I swore to the creed."

"And that means never showing your face?"

"Yes. This is the way."

She looked into the fire with an unreadable emotion in her eyes that made Din look away. "I heard Xi'an say something like that. I didn't know what it meant, and then there were sorta more important things to deal with."

The memory of her dealing with the droid sprung up in his mind; the way she looked standing over the broken corpse with fire and rage in her eyes.

And she'd done it all for the child.

"I'm sorry for all of that."

"It wasn't your fault."

"I contacted them."

"Which you did because of me. You didn't know they were backstabbing bastards."

Maybe he hadn't known, but the revelation hadn't exactly been shocking.

"Well, it all worked out in the end. We have a new lead." Her voice faded away as she stared into the flames.

It was suddenly hard to look at her.

She let out a yawn and looked at the bed. "It's probably time to turn in. How long to the settlement?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"If the rain lets up."

She made a disgusted sound. "I definitely need some sleep if I'm gonna survive tomorrow." Getting to her feet, she cradled the kid in her arms. "You coming?"

His spine straightened as he looked to the bed. "Uh ..."

"C'mon." Sinead shrugged. "The bed's big enough for both of us, and you need sleep just as much as I do."

Din stood as Sinead went over to the bed and started pulling back the sheets, which disintegrated in her hand. When she sat down, the mattress released a cloud of dust.

"It's better than the one in the Crest," she said while bouncing up and down. The mattress springs screeching with every movement.

Din turned his back to her and pretended to go over the supplies, hands going still when she lay down to a wailing chorus of springs. He didn't often share a bed with someone else and generally it wasn't for sleeping. When he couldn't put it off any longer, he turned to face the bed where Sinead was lying on her back. The kid was swaddled in a blanket, fast asleep beside her.

_Get a grip,_ he told himself as he sat on the edge of the bed to a cacophony of squeaking springs. He tried to control his breathing, but it felt like his heart was beating twice as fast. They had been sharing the same living space for weeks, and sleeping beside her gave him heart palpitations? Giving himself a mental shake, he lay down on the mattress, which was lumpy with age and just marginally more comfortable than the floor. He looked up at the ceiling and tried to focus on a spring that had worked its way through the outer layer and was trying to shank him. The rain pattered against the roof in a hypnotic rhythm, and the dying fire cast a warm light over the small room.

Between them, the child let out a little sound in his sleep.

The mattress dipped as Sinead turned onto her side, and Din's concentration shattered.

"You're okay sleeping in your armor? Isn't it uncomfortable?" She spoke quietly as to not wake the kid.

It was. The fire had only succeeded in drying the outer layers and leaving everything else cold and constricting. Even if it weren't, it was doubtful he'd get much sleep anyway. "I'm used to it." It came out in a breath.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Sinead prop her head to her hand and give him a faint smile. "'I'm used to it' implies that it isn't." She smiled gently, her dark eyes glinting in the firelight.

Despite himself, he rolled onto his side. The child slept between them, acting as a buffer.

"It's fine."

"Okay."

Safely hidden by his helmet, Din studied her face; still damp hair lay in soft-looking waves across the mattress, and there was an unreadable look in her eyes, in the way her smile seemed to slowly slip from her lips. She plucked at the kid's blanket. "How were they, the Mandalorians that took you in?"

The question caught him off guard. He watched a spider crawl up the wall behind Sinead while he thought.

"They treated me as an equal, fed and trained me, even though I wasn't their kin."

Sinead's eyes were warm and inquisitive. "Were there others like you?"

It had been a long time since he thought back on those days where alternating grief and gratitude had made his head spin. "We were foundlings. Lots of children were affected by the war."

"Where are they now? Your clan."

He searched her face for any sign of an ulterior motive almost hoping that he would find it and shut the conversation down without a second thought, but he didn't find any; she looked as calm and curious as before. "After the great purge, they went into hiding." He hoped that was enough of an answer. It was all he could give.

"Oh."

The silence stretched between them, only interrupted by the rain and the sound of some small animal running across one of the rafters. Din considered pretending he had fallen asleep when Sinead started talking in a voice barely above a whisper. "Back when … before I was …" for once she seemed lost for words. "Before everything happened. My parents were cargo runners, willing to go pretty much anywhere in the known galaxy even with a little kid in tow. As I said, my father was a pilot, and my mother was in charge of security. As a kid I honestly couldn't imagine a better life than living out among the stars. I still remember the day I learned that most people go their whole life never leaving their home planet. I couldn't wrap my mind around it."

His armor dug into his side, but he didn't notice. Her words came out softly like she was soothing a crying child.

"We were a pretty tight-knit group. Our co-pilot Raans, I used to call him Uncle. Don't remember a time where he wasn't a part of the crew. He was married to the navigator Tir Farr. Quite the couple."

Farr. Were all her aliases taken from people she had known in the past?

"We were our own little village. Our old gunner, who I never actually saw leave the ship, taught me how to cheat in sabacc. Said it was better learning from him than after some guy fleeced me out of all my credits." The sound of rain seemed to melt away as she talked. A sad smile played on her face as she told him about the rest of the crew, looking so small curled up on the bed, and Din felt something stir in his chest. Suddenly, the space between them seemed to shrink. If he wanted to he could reach out and touch her.

"I had this old, really cheap voice recorder that I would go around and interview the crew. Must've ended up with hours of stories."

"Why?"

"It was something my father told me once that really stuck with me. 'As long as someone remembers you, you're never really gone.' And in my child mind it meant that if I made sure they would always be remembered then they'd never leave. When I got older and found out that wasn't how it worked, it sort of became a habit. Every time we landed on a planet I'd find someone who was willing to talk to me. Ended up with a pretty comprehensive collection."

She trailed off, and the hut was once again silent. The fire had burnt down to glowing embers.

"What kind of cargo did they run?" His throat felt constricted and the words came out harsher than he intended.

"Whatever paid the most, which, as you know, more times than not were less than legal. They thought I didn't know about the smuggling, but I pretty quickly learned what was in the crates they hid under the flooring. I overheard my parents argue over when to tell me. They agreed that once I turned eighteen …" he heard her swallow thickly. "That's why I have to find Kyen. He's the only family I have left. No matter if … if he's changed, I have to know. I owe it to him."

It was too dark to see her face and for that Din was grateful."I'm sorry." It sounded so hollow coming from him, but he didn't know what else to say.

"Yeah. Me too."

They fell silent. The fire had burned down to glowing coals, and Sinead was a black silhouette in the darkness.

"Mando?" She whispered. "Are you asleep?"

"No."

Minutes ticked by. Eventually, Sinead's breathing turned slow. He watched the contours of her chest rise and fall and tried to time his own breathing with hers, but it was like a band had constricted around his chest, making it uncomfortable to breathe.

Forcing his eyes shut, he resigned himself to a sleepless night.

… … … … …

**A/N: Would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter, and also on the last two episodes! Especially episode 3 because that was A LOT.**

**I've made a tumblr for my writing, so head over to spoon-writes if you feel so inclined. I have a couple of mood boards in the works for the story.**


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